


Other Senses

by slowdissolve



Series: KyaLin Sketches and Adventures [9]
Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Action/Adventure, Disabled Character, Drama & Romance, F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-01
Updated: 2019-02-11
Packaged: 2019-03-12 04:16:09
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 31
Words: 94,475
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13539513
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/slowdissolve/pseuds/slowdissolve
Summary: Honestly? I have almost as much idea what's going to happen next as you do!





	1. Loss

“Stupid spirit,” the old woman grumbled, as she turned and walked away.

“Humans never learn,” the spirit said, as it sank below the water’s surface.

* * *

 

Bataar looked at his drawings again, trying to understand where the error was. Why was that beam not fitting into place?

Much of the platinum from the shining domes of Zaofu had been reclaimed from the spirit energy mech that had destroyed a wide swath of Republic City; but not all. Ownership of the metal was still entangled in international legal wrangling that Suyin had no heart left to fight. Every village between the City and Zaofu had a claim to repair their damages, but the metal had been stolen from Zaofu.

She’d come out of it, eventually, he hoped. Her despondency after all this time troubled him.

Rebuilding Zaofu was a new challenge, and he’d hoped she would engage in it to take her mind off her protegé Kuvira’s betrayal. His designs would incorporate more natural materials and organic shapes, to make the city better integrated with the landscape, more attuned to the wild and asymmetrical forms of woods and mountains that surrounded their valley. The precise, geometric, gleaming platinum points of the old domes would give way to something utterly different.

He’d been inspired by the new Portal in Republic City. Spirit vines and creatures passing from that world to this… there was a beauty in natural things that something human-made could rarely approach. Why not make a distinct break from the past? Things had changed, and so could Zaofu.

It hadn’t been easy on anyone. His eldest son was jailed, the one whom he’d hoped would lead the city after his mother. Some of the things Junior had said still stung whenever he thought about them. Opal was gone, living with the Air Nation now, and while it was normal for parents to miss their children when they left the nest, did she have to fly so very far?

He shook his head… maybe he was as depressed as Su. Work was the answer.

Above him and the crew working on this area, which was to be a new library, the beam that didn’t fit was hanging by a cable, swaying gently in a breeze. The sway was alarmingly close to some stonework that had been set in place earlier, with a few protrusions that suddenly seemed fragile, so close to the beam. It was midafternoon, and a warm wind was rising.

Huan assisted him now, and Bataar was comforted by how gladly his second son had taken up the task of rebuilding with him. Huan was no engineer, but the way he embraced his father’s vision for this new city helped ease the task. In fact, Huan had thrown himself into it, using his artist’s eye to create clever details that were warm and welcoming.

Suyin wandered into the work area, and at her side was one of the guards, apparently giving her a report. Suyin kept her eyes fixed on the ground, her hands clasped behind her back. The guard paused, but she continued forward, on a path that would take her to the spot directly under the beam.

“Su, be careful,” Bataar called.

Strange, he thought. She didn’t react.

A gust swirled up dust across the ground.

“Mom?” Huan asked, loudly enough that Bataar could hear him from across the work site.

There was a loud clang as the beam swayed and struck the stonework. The workers all jumped, and shouted for Suyin to get clear. The guard looked overhead toward the sound and then moved toward her, and was suddenly pelted with a shower of gravel.

What was wrong with her? Bataar wondered.

Suyin looked up and around with a surprised expression. There was a cracking sound, and as the stonework fell, Huan leapt forward, pulling with both fists toward himself. The earth under his mother shifted, and he yanked her forward, out of the path of the falling rocks. She was unprepared for the movement, and fell forward, landing heavily on her hands, her face scraping the ground.

The guard was already in motion, bending the falling rocks aside with a sweeping gesture, and they landed harmlessly nearby. Another gust of wind pushed through, and everyone in the area was forced to squint against the cloud of dust that spiraled around.

When it passed, they surrounded their Matriarch. Bataar went down on his knee to help lift her up.

“Su! What happened? Didn’t you hear us?”

She looked at her husband blankly, and then at everyone around her.

“Mom?” Huan asked again.

Suyin’s eyes were wide. She stared around. Suddenly she looked into her husband’s face, taking it in her hands.

“Say something,” she demanded, and her eyes went even wider.

“Suyin? What’s the matter?” Bataar responded.

“Why can’t I hear you? Why I can’t I hear anything? I can’t… I can’t even hear myself? What… what’s going on?”

The Matriarch of Zaofu looked frightened, more than she had in a very long time.

* * *

Lin was driving Kya back to the clinic after a rare lunch date. As they headed up South Plum Blossom Avenue, the daytime disappeared.

“Lin! Look out!” Kya shouted, and without thinking Lin slammed on the clutch and brake, skidding the police car to a halt.

“Didn’t you see that?!” Kya yelled.

“NO! I can’t see anything!”

Suddenly they were jolted forward, and only the safety belts prevented them from flying through the front glass. Lin’s foot slipped off the clutch and the car jerked forward again. Then it stalled.

After a few moments of dazed silence, the sounds of people in the street began to filter into their heads. She heard Kya unhitch her safety belt and get out of the car. There was the murmur of a crowd forming, and Kya’s voice, at first talking with, and then rising, at the hapless person… man… who’d rear-ended them. The man, whose voice started out angry, grew quieter as Kya’s grew louder. He sized up the tall, strong waterbender, and then realized he’d hit a police car, and then understood that he’d hit the Chief of Police’s police car.

Lin didn’t move. She saw nothing at all. It was incomprehensible… a blackness beyond blackness, deep as being at the bottom of the darkest cave. She waved a hand loosely in front of her face, but there was nothing.

Finally, there was a distant wail of a siren, as someone from her force was about to arrive on the scene and handle the accident. She dared not leave her seat… she had no idea how she was going to find her way even to the sidewalk. She had a vague idea where Kya was nearby, behind her, but the seismic sense she’d been taught by her mother Toph Beifong was only useful when she stomped on the ground, sending out and receiving vibrations as they bounced off objects. In a stalled car on a busy street she could feel nothing specific.

Kya appeared next to her, touching her arm.

“Lin, are you all right? Are you hurt?”

“No,” she said, slowly. “But… I can’t see.”

“What do you mean? I don’t see any injuries.”

“I’ve gone blind, somehow, Kya. I can’t see anything at all.”

She heard Kya take in a sharp breath.

Lin was in a curious state, between panic and feeling almost nothing at all. Her mother was blind, of course, so blindness in itself was not something to fear. Yet, in spite of having grown up with Toph, being blinded herself was quite a different prospect. To Toph it was as natural as breathing, seeing the world through her sense of touch. With Lin, it had taken practice and patience to learn to read the vibrations in the earth.

Lin took a deep breath and made a decision. She allowed calm to settle over her, because panic would help no one.

“I need you to get me home,” she told Kya, frankly and coolly.

Officer Lian Chu arrived at her side, as she took Kya’s elbow and stood up outside the car.

“Chief! Are you okay?”

“Yes, Chu, I’m fine. Get a tow truck and get this vehicle hauled back to the impound lot. Don’t write the other driver a citation. It wasn’t his fault. Give me about an hour, and then have Detective Mako call me at home.”

Chu nodded and headed off. Lin didn’t quite know how she knew he nodded, but it seemed reasonable enough to assume.

Still gripping Kya’s elbow, they headed toward the sidewalk, and Kya slowed slightly as they approached the curb. She could feel Kya rise as she stepped up, so Lin made her best guess and stepped up on to the sidewalk herself, successfully avoiding a stumble. There was still something of a crowd milling about, and she let herself be led as Kya wove the two of them through the people, and she noted the way the air compressed and ambient noise muffled ever so slightly whenever a body approached, and loosened once they were past.

Down the street a block, Kya’s body shook slightly, and Lin realized she was waving her other arm vigorously, hailing a cab. Sure enough, in a few moments the sound of an automobile approached, the engine soft and the tires crunching on the pavement. A click and a chunk, and she heard the back door of the car swing open. Her hand went out instinctively, and she caught the door’s edge as it came close.

Kya’s hand was on her hip, very gently, guiding her around the car door and turning her to get in. Lin felt a warm wave of gratitude flow over her: if it had to be anybody who helped her get home, Kya would be her first, best choice.

She slid into the cab, feeling the smooth leather of the back seat, noting the jagged edge of a small crack near the center. It was deep, and she sunk in the slight depression, where the backsides of hundreds, maybe thousands of other people had also sat, wearing this spot down.

The door clunked shut, and she felt Kya’s presence pass behind the trunk of the cab, and heard the door opposite open. While her eyes saw nothing but darkness, her mind could still visualize Kya’s movements and the memory of her body and flowing hair filled in the details.

Lin told the address to the cabbie, who seemed none the wiser. Kya was near her, but not touching: Lin reached out and took her hand, comforting her.

“I should be taking care of you,” Kya said, her voice tight, as though straining against tears.

“You are, and you will,” Lin said. “Once we get home, I want you to see if you can figure what’s happened. We’ll head straight for the bath.”

“How can you be so calm?” Kya asked.

“Wait until we get home,” Lin laughed. “I might come completely unglued then. I’m only holding it together for your sake.”

 


	2. Root Cause

It was so long ago that memory was hardly the word for it; humans’ stories passed it down through their brief lives for very many generations; but their stories would become slightly altered with every passing, until it was so unrecognizable that its true nature was forgotten. This was to be expected. Time was just a marker for the ceaseless change of the universe.

It had been there, however, before the world took its current form. The vast shells of the Lion Turtles had been the homes of the humans then, and that era went back in time too, to when the humans first appeared: scraggly, scrawny creatures, which used gestures and grumbles and growls to communicate with each other.

It had been there even before that. It did not know its own beginning. Longer ago than even its own prodigious memory.

Memory was a burden, in any case; it did not change. The future was ever in motion, and while it could see multitudes of outcomes, there were patterns in those outcomes, not unlike the seasons of the human world. Only in the present was anyone capable of true action. For humans, those actions too were predictable.

It resided in the roots of the Tree of Time, and had for many ages. The humans now called it the Swamp, and by and large avoided the region. The Swamp did allow the humans who had been here since the beginning to stay; they were a part of its natural fauna, in a sense.

But this new human, old by their counting, was a problem. Her natural qi was enormous! And she’d come to live here, but was constantly tapping into the energy of the vines to reach out to other places in the human world. Had she been a spirit herself, maybe she would have known how to do it quietly! But no! Her own energy, like the sound of loud static, irritated the ancient one. 

Had it not been so grating, it might have been amusing, this novelty: a human with the greatest qi it had sensed in millennia, bumbling about the roots of the great Tree of Time, discovered the connection it provided to all things. And what did she do with this extraordinary knowledge? She used it to observe her progeny from a distance. Not interacting, only observing. She could have intervened on their behalf in any of their troubles, but she did not. She could have changed circumstances, changed minds, changed futures… but she did not. She did not grasp the immense power of these conduits of spiritual energy, or how the unique strength of her own life force could affect that power. It was a comedy. 

But this ancient one, who had dwelt here in these roots since the beginning of the age, was tired of the vexing way she did use the vines. And it could not remember ever having been so deeply annoyed as after its meeting with the human woman to discuss it.

* * *

 

Suyin’s face changed as soon as she saw the looks on the faces of those surrounding her. She forced a smile and took Bataar’s offered hand to stand up. Her wrists hurt where they’d taken the force of her fall, and her face stung, but she cocked her head and pretended a laugh.

“I guess I was a little distracted there,” she tried to joke. It was strange to make the sounds but not hear them.

Bataar’s mouth moved, but she couldn’t make out what he was saying just from the shape of his lips. She shook her head.

“I’m sorry, dear, I still can’t hear.” She started forward again, as though nothing had happened. Bataar took her elbow as he moved to go with her, but she shook it off.

“I’m not hurt,” she snapped.

Huan stepped forward, and moved a hand over the metal cuff on his wrist, bending the surface to a mirror polish. He put it in Su’s line of vision. 

Her nose and chin were scraped and bloody. She was hurt. 

Her shoulders dropped, and Bataar put his arm around her. He and Huan walked on either side of her away from the work site.

They went back to their apartment, and on the way she was certain Bataar and Huan were having a conversation. She could feel the vibration of her husband’s speech, but could not make anything out. It was terrifying. She felt anger rise atop the fear. What the hell was going on? What were they saying? Were they talking about her like she was an invalid? How was she going to manage this city without being able to hear anything? 

At the door, Huan left, and Bataar walked with her to one of the couches, and gestured for her to sit. Then he went out of the room. She stared about, and the silence was complete. She felt more alone at this moment than she ever had. Even when no one was in the room, the gentle sound of things happening in Zaofu had always been there to hear: the wind and birds, the footsteps of guards and citizens, distant laughter and conversation. 

Suyin Beifong was on the verge of panic, about to jump up and run, when Bataar returned with a woman carrying a bowl and towels over her arm. The young kneeled in front of her and dipped a towel in clean water and offered it to her. Her face was smiling, but her eyes betrayed concern and… pity?

“I don’t want pity,” she growled, and felt a scowl settle over her face. Bataar’s brow dropped too, but as though he were thinking. He pulled a pad of paper and a pen from a pocket, and wrote a note. He tore it off and handed it to Suyin.

_ We’re just trying to help. We don’t understand what’s happened either. _

Su slumped back on the couch. She allowed the young woman to wash and dress her wrists, and took a smaller towel to clean her own nose and chin. There was no good way to dress those injuries, but they weren’t deep. The young woman applied a fresh-smelling styptic powder to those, and though it stung, it stopped the blood from oozing.

He handed her another note:  _ Huan’s gone to get the acupuncturist. Do you remember what was going on when it happened? _

She frowned again. Her mind had been filled with a million things, all pressing issues, but now she could hardly recollect what exactly she’d been thinking about at the moment she’d fallen. The guard who’d been near her was reporting on… something. She couldn’t recall what. 

Mostly it was the reconstruction of the city. She’d been thinking about the tangled legal issues with the platinum, and whenever she thought about that she thought about Kuvira, and how she’d raised her from her youth only to have Kuvira betray her and Zaofu. It had been two years, but the pain always came back whenever she thought about it, and with reconstruction that was almost every day.

But that wasn’t all of it… that couldn’t be all of it. She had a sense that her people were dissatisfied with her. The work of reconstruction was slow, and they were impatient with it. A few of her own people had joined Kuvira, and she couldn’t understand why. And there were other voices, conversations that would end as she approached, among the people of the city. 

She was the Matriarch. This was her city, founded with her effort, and she’d done everything she could to make each person feel like they had a place there. This was supposed to be a utopia. A home. A big, happy family.

But it wasn’t. 

She could have demanded to know what those conversations were about. She could have ruled the way Kuvira would have, through dictum and rigid discipline. The people of Zaofu were free… encouraged! to follow their dreams. So what possibly could be making them unhappy?

“I had a lot on my mind,” she said.

* * *

 

The City Council was going to hear a few choice words from her on the conditions of the roads in Republic City. The taxi ride back to their home was much rougher than she’d ever remembered.

Lin was determined to make the best of things. Blindness was nothing to be afraid of. Mom wasn’t afraid of anything at all, from the time she was a young girl, the Blind Bandit, champion of the arena at the tender age of twelve.

It would just take some learning, and given how much she’d learned in the past two years, as she grew in love with Kya, that was nothing to be afraid of, either.

They came home, and while Lin figured out how to get out of her armor, Kya called the clinic to tell them where she’d gone. In the end, she just closed her eyes and bent the metal plates away, like she did every night. Keeping her eyes closed made it feel like nothing was different.

She made an effort to walk toward the sofa, eyes closed, but was suddenly unsure precisely how far it was from the door. Involuntarily her eyes opened, but there was still nothing, so she stopped, one hand slightly extended. Hesitantly she took soft, short steps forward, until her shin bumped gently into the low table in front of it. She felt for the armrest, and lowered herself down.

“Lin? The bath?” Kya was there now, close to her.

She knew that was where they needed to go, but nervous about getting there alone.

“I didn’t realize how poorly I know my own house,” she admitted.

“This is going to be tough for a while, but I know you’ll handle it,” Kya said. “And I’m here to help you.”

Lin stood again, and when she put her hands out, she felt Kya move into her embrace. They held each other, gentle and warm.

“There’s no one I’d rather have help me than you,” she said.

It was like she could hear Kya’s smile, and she smiled herself in return. Kya took her hand, and led her toward the bath.

“Do you remember what was happening when…?” Kya asked.

“I was still thinking about our conversation over lunch. Tenzin… this is so… Raiko has me under so much pressure to go out there. He’s harboring a murderer.”

Kya was silent, as she had Lin sit at the edge of the tub while she started the water running. 

Lin replayed the whole situation in her mind, once again. A citizen of Omashu had sought sanctuary and asylum on Air Temple Island. The man was accused of murdering three of the counselors of the young queen Daiyu. Lin and Kya had met the queen previously, traveling down the western coast of the Earth Republics, and Kya had healed a great number of the citizens of Omashu who’d been suffering a serious and contagious illness. Queen Daiyu had taken Lin’s advice to freshen up her circle of ministers with a few women, but they’d become targets of a faction of traditionalists.

Tensions in the old city were high. Threats against the new counselors had been made, and their homes vandalized. Even as the queen strove to open the city to new trade and investment, investors were skittish about the unrest. The population was divided: while there were many who were eager for new efficiencies and technologies, there were almost as many who railed about offending the spirits, adamant that the plague that had befallen them before would return if they didn’t adhere to Omashu’s ancient traditions.

It was the arrival of a trade delegation from Republic City that had brought the tensions to a breaking point: when the airship arrived, boulders flung from the city walls greeted them. They hovered just beyond their range, watching in horror as troops went out to quell a riot just beginning.

Eventually the queen’s troops brought order to the city, the airship landed, and the delegates were escorted to the palace. The negotiations were to begin the next morning, but when the delegates were to meet Diayu and her ministers, the bodies of three women were discovered, and one of her other advisors had failed to show for the gathering. The manhunt was on, but it appeared that he’d fled the city during the riot.

A week later he arrived at Air Temple Island, announcing that he’d witnessed the murders and that he was also targeted, but had managed to escape, and now sought the protection of the Air Nomads who had aided their city in the past.

When this news reached Omashu, the queen retaliated by detaining the trade negotiators, demanding the fugitive be returned for trial. Raiko told Lin to handle it; Lin went out to secure the prisoner from Tenzin; Tenzin refused to hand him over.

She hadn’t expected Tenzin to resist. She’d only brought a couple of metalbenders with her, and he had the entirety of the Air Nomad temple behind him.

To bring more troops to force the Airbenders’ hand would create an international scandal. To allow the criminal to stay on the island with Tenzin would mean leaving hostages in the hands of a city-state in turmoil. There were no good choices.

Lin wanted justice done. This was all she ever wanted. But today, she’d received a message delivered from Queen Daiyu herself, pleading for her assistance in apprehending the murderer.

And over lunch today she’d told Kya about it.

The water was ready.

She undressed, closing her eyes again, to make it feel natural. Then Kya assisted her into the water, and she quipped, as she entered the warm water, “Wanna join me?”

Kya chuckled. “Business first.”

Lin sank into the bath, noting the way it lapped at the places where her knees and shoulders emerged. She lowered herself down, until it touched her ears.

“Hold your breath,” Kya said, and she was down under the water completely, feeling Kya’s bending reaching into her, searching for damage, searching for blockage. The water was warm and soothing, and Lin’s anxiety eased.

“I… I don’t sense any damage, Lin.”

Lin broke through the surface and sat up. There wasn’t anything wrong. And yet… she opened her eyes… she still couldn’t see.

“Nothing?”

“Well, I mean… there’s something, but it’s not like physical damage. There’s definitely a block on the energy along the visual meridians, but it’s… weird. I’ve never felt anything like it.”

Lin didn’t move. She honestly didn’t expect this.

“Lin?” Kya asked, after a long pause.

“I don’t know what to do now. I didn’t think…”

The phone rang… Mako. Kya turned and left to answer it, and Lin heard the swish of her skirt. She bounded through the house to the kitchen. Lin could picture her dashing, her long hair bobbing. She was seeing her, in her mind's eye.

“Don’t tell him!” Lin called. “I’ll be there in a minute!”

She lifted herself out of the bath, and stood, dripping. She reached out for where the towel should be, and it was there, so she dried herself, and wrapped it around her body. She was out of the bathroom, with tentative steps, and halfway through the bedroom when Kya came back, and again taking her hand, led her out to the kitchen phone. 

“Mako,” she said gruffly.

“Chief! Lian Chu said you were in an accident!”

“I was. Just a fender bender. Nothing serious. Listen… I need you to cover for me. I have a lead on the Omashu guy, so I’m going to ground for a few days. All right? Just tell Raiko I’m working undercover.”

“You need backup? Anybody I should send?”

“No.”  _ Think, Beifong, think! _ “Kya’s with me on it. Going to keep this confidential for a little, until I have something a bit more solid.”

“All right, Chief.”

“I’ll call you in two days, same time… “ She paused, realizing she had no clue what time it was, and could not see the clock. She put her hand over the mouthpiece of the phone and whispered to Kya, “Write down the time!”

“... and report what’s going on. If I don’t have it wrapped by then we’ll have to try something different.”

“Gotcha, Chief. Be careful.”

“Good.” She put the phone back into its cradle. 

Kya came up behind her and wrapped her arms around her. At least she knew she was safe with her. 

“What  _ are _ we going to do?”

“I don’t know, Kya. I really don’t.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly? I have almost as much idea what's going to happen next as you do!


	3. Blocks

There was a spring of clean water at a particular spot in the Swamp, not too far from where Toph had made her abode. Each day she took her bucket there for a fresh supply. 

It had decided it was time to communicate with the human. As she approached, it rose up from under the water, and spoke.

“Human.”

“Who the—?” Toph blurted, startled.

“Do not be afraid. I am an ancient spirit. I dwell in the spring.”

“Who said I was afraid?”

“You just—”

“You live in my water hole?” Toph interrupted.

“It is not  _ your _ water hole. It is my dwelling-place.”

“Since when? I’ve been getting water here for thirty years now.”

“Since before the time of the Avatars. But this is not—”

“It’s nice, clean water.”

“Yes, but I wish to—”

“I’m not hurting anything, am I? I just wanted some water.”

“Human. This is not the point of my address to you.”

“This is a Swamp. When did they put in a post office?”

“A what?”

“A post office. You said your ‘address’.”

“My meaning was, this is not the point of my communication with you.”

“Ohh,” she said.

“Human,” it said, its voice already weary. “You must stop using the vines to observe your progeny, as you do.”

“What!?” she demanded.

“I said—”

“I heard you!”

“Then why did you say ‘what’?”

“‘Cause I can’t believe you have the nerve to tell me I can’t use these vines to watch my kids!”

“In the way you do.”

“Yeah, whatever. No. I’m not going to stop. They’re my kids.”

“The manner in which you have been doing so has caused me great aggravation.”

“Tough shit.”

“How dare you—”

“Shove it.”

“Will you cease interrupting—”

“No!” she laughed.

“But—”

“Nuh uh.”

“I—”

“Nope!”

“You—”

“No way!”   


The ancient one drew itself up and expanded, dark and enormous. “STOP!” it thundered.

“Are you trying to scare me?” Toph asked. She waved her hand in front of her face. “If you went and made yourself big trying to scare me, it didn’t work. Can’t see it. Not impressed.”

The spirit, now angry, darkened further, and a breeze whipped up around it. The ancient one was aghast. This little being was a human, and disrespect from humans was something it had never encountered in its incomprehensibly long existence. She taunted it for  _ enjoyment! _

“Do you not fear death?” it screeched.

“I’m not afraid of  _ you, _ ” She laughed a long, raucous laugh.

“I have dwelt in the roots of the Tree of Time since before your kind crawled from the mud. You shall not speak to me this way!”

“I’ll speak to you any damned way I please. You think being old lets you make the rules? Man, I wish I’d known that… I’d have made myself Melon Lord a long time ago!” She laughed again.

The ancient one drew itself back into a smaller form, and swirled around Toph. “All humans fear something. In spite of how you vexed me, I  _ was _ willing to help you. You do not understand the power of the vines.”

“Sure. Right. Whatever.” She stepped toward the spring again, and lowered her bucket.

“You are unwilling to learn. Ignorant human.”

“Blowhard spirit.”

“You will be taught a lesson, and you will be made to fear.”

Her bucket was now full, and she readied to go. “Is that all?” she asked.

The ancient one, nonplussed at the human’s reaction, said, “For now.”

“Stupid spirit,” the old woman grumbled, as she turned and walked away.

“Humans never learn,” the spirit said, as it sank below the water’s surface.

* * *

Guo was shaking his head. He’d placed every acupuncture needle along every meridian related to hearing, and it was having no effect. Suyin felt a creeping dread. If Guo couldn’t unblock the qi, what would? Why was it there in the first place? How had it become blocked?

She wondered whether she could somehow get Katara to come to Zaofu… surely the world’s most renowned healer could help her. Or maybe Kya… but that option filled her with distaste. Certainly traveling to Republic City to see Katara would be difficult, given her responsibilities in Zaofu, but traveling there for Kya… no. 

And if that didn’t work? Then what? Could she possibly retain her leadership over the city if she weren’t whole? 

She looked up at Bataar, who was looking back at her. His eyes were sad. She knew he loved her, would do anything for her, but he was helpless to fix this.

The weight of it all came down on her. She’d never hear his voice again, or her children’s. She’d never hear the laughter of grandchildren. Her music, her dance, her friends… all gone. Her city… she couldn’t be there for her city, she couldn’t lead it effectively. She’d have to step down. And who would take over from her? What would they change?

She’d already borne so much already, with Kuvira taking the domes from her, her eldest son, and her sense of security. Now she was bereft as never before.

Su curled up and broke down in great heaving sobs, and inside herself, faintly, she wondered whether she was crying softly or loudly. She just didn’t know.

Bataar thanked Guo for his help, and nodded for him to leave the two of them on their own.

He sat beside her on the long sofa, and pulled her close, so that her head lay on his breast. Gently, he crooned low, “It’ll be all right, it’ll be all right.” She could feel the rumble of his voice in his chest, and it was repetitive and soothing, but she was frustrated that she didn’t know what he was saying. A fresh wave of tears fell. But he was there, strong and protecting her. It was… different. For so long she’d led everything, and he followed dutifully. At last he was sheltering her, and the idea that she didn’t have to be strong in this moment cracked her heart. She pressed herself into him, wanting to hide.

“I’m losing everything,” she wept.

Bataar pulled back, and took her face in his hands. He looked into her eyes, and mouthed slowly and clearly, “You still have me.” He pointed first at her, and then at himself, to emphasize the point. He took her back into his arms, and held her.

Then she felt other hands on her, her back, and shoulders, and the top of her head. Her sons were all there, too, joining the embrace. Wing and Wei knelt behind her and covered her from behind, Huan from above, wrapping his arms about her head and his father’s shoulders.

She had her family. She’d always have them, at least.

After a while, she went off to her bedroom to sleep. The emotions of the day had exhausted her.

Bataar called his sons together, and they discussed what to do.

“Guo doesn’t know what’s causing the blockage, but his acupuncture is unable to clear it. I think maybe we should call in a waterbender to help,” he said.

“Master Katara? Isn’t she the very best?” Huan asked. Suyin had talked about knowing her when she was a child, and her reputation was well-known.

“I can send a cable off to Republic City,” Bataar said. “But we should also talk about what happens if waterbending isn’t effective either. Your mom has already been feeling too much pressure from the responsibilities of reconstruction, but there was no way we were ever going to make her step back voluntarily. This is her city. Now that this has happened, she’s feeling like she’s losing everything she worked to build.”

“Dad,” Wei said, “Can we be honest?”   


Bataar knew in his heart what his sons were going to say.

“You have to be,” he said.

Wei began, “Maybe this is a chance for some other people to step up…”

Wing added, “...and take charge. Mom always wants the best for everyone, but…”

“... it’s always her decision. A lot of people...” 

“... want more of a voice in how things work.”

The twins looked at each other, and then back at their father.

“Only Omashu still has a queen,” Huan commented. “The Earth Kingdom is a republic now.”

“But isn’t Zaofu different? We’re all equal here,” Bataar rebutted.

“Is it, Dad?” Wing said. “Maybe for the benders, but…”

“Do I need to remind you that I’m not a bender? Your mother would be devastated to hear this.”

No one dared to say what came into their minds.

“She owns the land. This is  _ hers. _ She bought the land, and she and I came here to build a city. She trained all the metalbenders here. How can you just take it from her?”

Huan replied, “And they had families, and they live here too, and made it into that city. If it weren’t for the people, wouldn’t it just be a bunch of buildings? Yes, our family owns the land, but the people built the city for themselves, just as much as they did for Mom. There are thousands of them now. They have a stake in being here. They just want a say in how things run.”

“It’s not like we’re trying to take it away from her,” Wei said. “She’s still the Matriarch, and they still want her to lead us. But there are good people with good ideas, and they’ve got potential too. They’re just not…”

“...being heard.” Bataar sighed.

* * *

“Are you sure?” Kya asked. “I mean, sure sure?”

Lin laughed. It was weird, but she was almost enjoying the challenge. “I’m going to be fine. I’m here at home, and nobody knows that but you, me and… nobody. I can practice getting around and not make a fool of myself, even in front of you. I know I can do this. It’s just seismic sensing, but more in-depth. I’m halfway there already, aren’t I?”

Kya was amazed at her attitude. Never, ever had she had any of her patients go through such a traumatic thing as losing their vision without feeling something like grief. It was possible that Lin was just in deep denial, and that eventually the loss would hit her. Kya would have to be prepared for some pretty dramatic mood swings, if that were the case. If Lin took any time to think about what she would miss, it could hit her hard.

Maybe she was feeling that grief  _ for _ her. Kya was on the verge of tears, with her lover so brave in the face of this disability. Yes, yes, of course, Toph proved that it was not a disability that couldn’t be overcome. She even proved that blindness had its advantages. But Toph had been blind her whole life. What had she  _ lost, _ really? 

She felt awful that she couldn’t remove the blockage. Lin had suffered so many, many times in her life, given tremendously hard blows by so many people. Did she really need another battle? 

She was as tough as any Beifong, to be sure, every bit as adamantine as her mother, but her mother’s arm’s-length parenting, her sister’s ego, and after Tenzin, the deep loneliness she’d felt? To discover that Lin was still selfless and patient and loving? It only proved to Kya that Lin was genuinely and profoundly good. She was as noble as any Avatar, as committed to justice balanced with mercy.

Kya loved her, and this train of thought had her going back to Lin, to take her in her arms and kiss her, deeply and passionately. Being the one Lin loved? The one Lin trusted? It was a sacred thing.

Lin felt her approach, heard her moving, and was ready to hold her, forever if necessary. 

“I’m going to be fine,” she said, her fingers smoothing over Kya’s hair.  _ My silver-haired treasure, _ she thought, not for the first time, and she could see it again in her mind’s eye. 

“I love you more than I can say,” Kya whispered, and could not stop the tears from falling. 

Lin tasted the salt as she kissed Kya’s cheek. “Don’t be afraid, Kya. It’s just a change. I have you, and that means I have everything I need.”

Kya held her just a little bit tighter.

“Besides, it’s already the middle of the afternoon. You only have a couple of hours at the clinic left, and then you can bring us something for dinner. It’s not that long. I’ll be safe, and I’ll be busy.”

And before Kya could speak again, “...and I know the clinic number. Don’t  _ worry!”  _

“Okay, okay,” Kya relented, laughing. Lin imagined the smile. 

Kya went out the front door, and Lin closed it. It was time to get to work. 

First, to learn to get around the house, already in her visual memory, but this time to read it with her feet. She was dressed in her loose pants and her sleeveless shirt, and her feet were bare. She stood by the front door, feeling the rough texture of the tiles. A step out, putting the foot down first, feeling the texture of the floor beneath, feeling the wood sag as she shifted her body’s weight onto it. It creaked, and she could feel that slight vibration. Good. Again.

Lin walked, step by meditative step, around the living room and kitchen of her house, for at least those two hours, until she was clear about where everything was, and could walk to any place confidently. 

Two rooms was enough for now, she judged. In the kitchen, she took out a glass from the proper cupboard, reached into the cabinet where the whiskey was supposed to be, and with delicate care filled that glass. Then, doing her best to listen to where things were, she walked carefully to the living room, put the glass on the table, and flopped onto the sofa. Success.

Lin was exhausted. 

She reached and sipped from the glass, hearing the liquid moving in it. The late afternoon sunlight would be angling in from the front window by now, turning the whiskey bright gold. She held it up, but saw nothing at all. She pictured the glass and the amber alcohol in her mind, and followed that picture as she set the glass back down. 

These mental images. They might suffice. She’d… she’d miss the art. Her silk painting from the time of Avatar Yang Chen… it had always been one of her favorites. She was glad she’d spent so many hours taking it in, because the memory was all she had now.

The sunlight. Kya’s hair. Her smile. Lin turned and stretched out on the sofa. She closed her eyes. She’d miss seeing those. On the other hand… she could always touch Kya’s hair, her face, kiss those smiling lips. That was… even better.

She slept.


	4. Worries

She grumbled all the way back to the place under the giant tree root where she lived. 

Of course she was scared! What idiot wouldn’t be? Just doing what she did, every day, and some spirit she couldn’t see starts speaking to her out of nowhere?

But Toph had learned from the very beginning never to  _ show _ fear. That in itself was enough to solve most confrontations. And, honestly, it was kind of fun to get the spirit flustered.

What was she doing wrong with the vines, though? All she did was put her hand on them, and sort of reach out, kind of like bending, thinking about Lin, or Su, or one of the grandkids. She felt for their individual vibrations, and it was like she was right there with them.

After thinking about the exchange with the spirit, she knew it wasn’t really forbidding her to use the vines… it had a problem with how she was doing it. But admitting she’d misunderstood was a little late now. Apologizing stunk. She wasn’t likely to run into the spirit again anyway; if this was the first time in thirty years it bothered to speak to her, she might be long gone before it ever came up again.

Then again, “You will be taught to fear” was a pretty serious threat, delivered in that low, creepy spirit voice.

She  _ knew _ fear. Oh, did she ever. From the first moment she knew she’d be a mother, she worried about what might happen to her girls. Toph loved her girls so fiercely, and they’d never really realized it. She’d done poorly raising them, but who’d shown her how? Her own parents had smothered her; after she left with Aang, he and Sokka and Katara were a better family than she’d ever had. But they were her own age, and when Aang and Katara had Bumi, they were learning by the seat of their pants too.

When she found out she was pregnant with Lin, she was terrified. Who would help her? Kanto? No, not really. He  _ was _ a nice guy, but it was the truth when she said it didn’t work out. He suspected something, and was gone within a week. Better to have that over with quickly, than to be stuck with a guy who didn’t want to be there anyway.

There was no one she could trust but her three best friends, and they’d helped as much as they could, but it was still her responsibility, and she wasn’t going to run away. Aang and Katara also had both Bumi and Kya by the time Lin came along, so they already had their hands full. Sokka and Suki… well… things weren’t going so well with those two, either, so she had to suck it up and just do the job.

And then there was the job. She loved being Chief. As soon as those kids were old enough to look out for themselves, she let them, as she’d done when she was that age. She knew what was going on, more or less, and she knew they could take care of themselves, because she’d taught them herself. They knew metalbending before most of the officers on the force mastered it. Lin took to the seismic sense better than she thought, though she knew it was difficult for anyone who depended on their eyes. Even Twinkletoes couldn’t do it as well as she could, but that was all right, because he was Twinkletoes.

Su got metalbending right away. She was damn good at it, too. And Su knew it, and maybe that was the problem. Both her girls were really, really smart… she was so proud of them. But smart never was the same thing as wise. She’d struggled with wise herself, her whole life.

Like messing with an ancient spirit. Not wise. She knew that now.

Back at home, she lay back on the smooth root she lounged on most days, and put her hand out to see what was happening in the world… and hesitated.

_ Maybe I should wait a couple days, _ she thought.  _ Let it blow over a little. My girls can handle themselves. _

* * *

Suyin was furious.

She woke from the nap, head splitting, hungry, and furious. Wasn’t it freaking enough that she couldn’t hear anything at all? She had to feel like garbage too?

She got off the bed, woozy for a second, and then made her way to the hall door. A guard was outside.

“What are you doing here?” she demanded.

The guard started responding, but she scowled and waved him off.

She went to her office; she might not be able to hear, but she could sure as hell still read. This was a chance to work on some correspondence, read some newspapers, catch up on world events.

After half an hour, absorbed in the backlog of letters from other Earth Kingdom officials and business leaders from around the world, she was startled to look up and find Bataar sitting on the other side of her desk.

“What—when did you get here?”

_ Just a minute ago,  _ he wrote on his pad.  _ Are you hungry? _

“Starved,” she said. 

_ Do you want to join us for dinner, or would you rather be alone? _

She leaned back in her chair. He was sweet to consider her feelings this way. 

“I’d rather just be with you, if that’s all right,” she said.

He smiled.  _ Let me have them bring in a tray for you, _ he scribbled.

She rubbed her temples as he got up and went to the office door. Outside another guard had been posted, and he spoke briefly to them, before coming back in.

“What’s with the guards?” she asked.

_ I didn’t want anyone to interrupt you, _ he wrote. _ Do you want me to have them go? _

“No,” she said, recalling how Bataar had managed to sneak up on her so easily. How was she ever going to feel secure again?

_ I can’t imagine how hard this is for you, my love. _

It seemed strange to answer those words in black and white with her voice, while she couldn’t hear it. She gestured for the pad.

_ What am I going to do, darling? I’ll lose everything if I can’t hear. _

_ No, my love. Things will change, but you won’t lose everything. You still have us, your family. And all the people here love you. They want you to get better. I’ve sent a cable to Republic City, asking Katara to come and see if she can help. _

_ And if she can’t? _

_ Then we’ll adapt. We’ll find ways for you to communicate with the people. You’re not the first person to ever lose hearing. Surely there are others who know what to do. We just have to find them. _

_ What would I do without you, darling? _

He smiled.  _ You won’t need to find out. _

Bataar cocked his head, and Suyin could have sworn she felt a slight vibration from the direction of the door. He rose and opened it, and a young girl brought in a tray with dinner. She put it on the corner of the desk, and hurried out.

“You know,” she said aloud, and then grabbed the pad.  _ I could have sworn I felt the door just then. I wonder if I could learn to read the vibrations, like Mom does with her sight. _

Bataar’s eyes brightened.  _ You can do anything you set your mind to, my love. _

There was a ray of hope now. Maybe she could learn to hear the way Mom could see. Or she could learn what other people without hearing did. She didn’t have to lose everything.

She sat down, eager to see what her chef had prepared this evening. She opened the lid on the tray, and there was a delicious plate of hot noodles and steamed vegetables. Underneath the plate was a folded piece of paper.

> _ To the Great Matriarch Suyin Beifong: _
> 
> _ We understand that it must seem hard for you to lose your hearing. Some of us have lost far more than that, and we had much less than you to begin with. But we sympathize with your loss. _
> 
> _ That said, it’s ironic, but appropriate. Now that you can’t hear, you might just be able to listen. _
> 
> _ The People of Zaofu _

* * *

Kya went back to the clinic for another hour, to wrap up the waiting patients, and then told her colleagues that she needed to be out for a couple of days. Again. They rolled their eyes, laughing… it must be hard being the Chief’s wife, they all said. She blushed and grinned. The dramatic life of a public figure, she’d said.

But instead of heading home, she used the hour to make her way out to Air Temple Island. 

Tenzin was inside, in his library, tending to the material needs of his nation: he was paying bills, and grumbling about expenses.

“Tenzin,” she called from the door.

He looked up over his reading glasses, surprised. “Kya! I’m so glad to see you!”

And then his expression hardened, and his voice. “Is Lin with you?”

“No. And it’s not about the Omashu guy. Listen, I have something to tell you.”

He leaned back in his chair. “What is it?”

Kya stood for a moment, her face unsure, and then she started to cry. 

Tenzin leapt to his feet, and came around the desk to hug her.

“Kya, what is it?”

“It’s Lin… she’s… gone blind.”

Tenzin was shocked. “What? How?”

“We don’t know. I can’t remove the blockage in her qi. It just… happened.”

“How is she doing?” His voice was all concern.

“She’s…. Better than me.” 

He led her to a chair, and she sat down. 

“I don’t get it, Tenzin… Why Lin? She doesn’t deserve this. She’s losing… so much…”

“She still has you.” 

“But why? I don’t understand it! Just… out of the blue, driving along… bam! She couldn’t see! Something’s blocking her energy, but there’s no damage. It’s so weird!”

Tenzin sat on the edge of his desk, stroking his beard. “Was there anything about the trip that you remember?”

“We were on our way back from lunch. She was telling me about the Omashu guy, and she…” Kya paused. She didn’t know if Tenzin knew about the letter from Queen Daiyu, and wasn’t sure she was supposed to say anything about it. “... she’s getting a lot of pressure from Raiko.”

Tenzin sighed heavily. “I can’t let him be taken. He’s asked for sanctuary here, and the Air Nomads must protect a fugitive who might be subject to a death penalty. It’s against our tradition and our teaching. You know this.”

“I’m not here to argue about that, Tenzin,” Kya said, her voice strained. “Right now, Lin is at home, just trying to learn how to get around our house. I don’t know how to help her.”

“You said something was blocking her qi, but there was no damage.” He stroked his chin again, thoughtfully.

“It was like nothing I’ve ever felt, Tenzin! I’ve had patients who’ve gone blind from concussions and injuries, but this was nothing like that.”

Pema came into the library. She went to Tenzin with a concerned expression, and handed him an envelope.

“Kya! What brings you here?” she asked, cheerfully, but unconvincingly.

“Pema?” Tenzin asked, holding the envelope.

“That just arrived.”

Tenzin opened it. Scanning it, he looked at his sister and said, “This is an urgent cable from Zaofu. Suyin has suddenly gone deaf, and their healer can’t unblock her qi. They’re asking for Mom.”


	5. Omashu

They’d been prisoners before, but never in a place as cushy as this. 

“I could get used to this,” Korra remarked, her feet up on a table, munching an apple. They were outside on a balcony, on the upper ring of the city of Omashu, looking at the city sloping away below them, and a breathtaking view of the mountains beyond.

Asami looked up from her notebook. “We’re being detained. We’re hostages.”

“I know, I know… but you know as well as I do that it would take about three and a half seconds for us to knock out those guards and be on our way.”

“And you know as well as I do that  _ that _ would throw Omashu into civil war and probably drag the United Republic in with it. This is serious. Three ministers were killed.”

“Which is why we  _ won’t, _ ” Korra said. “But you gotta admit this beats being chained to something.”

Asami went back to her notebook, and her eyes narrowed, but she wore an impish smile.

“What’s on your mind, Asami?”

“Could you get used to the separate rooms they’ve put us in?”

Korra’s feet dropped from the table, she lolled her head back, and her whole body sagged in frustration on the chair. “UGGHH!! I KNOW!”

“There,” Asami said, putting her pencil down.

“There what?”

“My idea for weight sensors. If they use it on the delivery system here in Omashu, it would be easier and safer for everyone to use.”

“Weight sensors?”

“It will keep the carts from getting overloaded, so that benders won’t be able to move more than a certain amount at a time. They won’t get strained or injured, and everyone else will benefit from the reduced wear on the chutes.”

“You’re not going to replace the entire system with a mechanized, automatic system that anybody can use?” Korra laughed.

“If I had my way, of course. But part of this trade agreement includes not prioritizing new methods over traditional bending. We can adapt, but not replace. Given what we’ve seen of the political situation, it’s already a tough sell.”

“Wouldn’t want to put any benders out of work, would we?”

Asami smiled, and a dreamy look came over her face. “Call me crazy, but imagine a world where everybody has more free time. Where machines do the work, and we have more fun.”

Korra thought about this a minute. “You’re crazy.”

Asami looked at her, shocked, but saw the mischievous half-smile on her face.

“The difference between benders and non-benders has always been about the power benders have that non-benders don’t. What’s that led to?”

Korra frowned. “This sounds awfully Equalist of you.”

“Come on now… you know that the dirtiest, most boring jobs always go to non-benders. Don’t they?”

“I guess so. But even benders do a lot of boring work, too. Here they’re a delivery service. Mako had a job as a welder, for a while.”

“But what if there were machines that could do either? The earthbenders here would have more leisure time. Mako wouldn’t have had to sell his bending for money.”

“How would anyone make anything to live on, then? Where would they get their money?”

“Look at the spirit world… they don’t have jobs or money, do they?”

“I’m not sure they have to eat, or wear clothes, either.”

“All right… bad analogy. But look at the Water Tribe, then. Does anybody there go hungry?”

“Not if Dad can help it, no.”

“Does every single person work?”

“If they can, yes.”

“But if they can’t?”

“Well, we’re not going to let somebody starve if they  _ can’t _ work,” Korra snorted.

“In Republic City they do.”

Korra went silent. She remembered her first day there. 

Asami smiled gently. “The way I see the future… if you want to work, you can. I know I would. But if you don’t, or you can’t, a machine could do it for you. But your value as a person… your life… wouldn’t be defined by your work.”

She got up, and came around the table, and stood behind Korra, her hands on Korra’s shoulders. “When you couldn’t walk? I loved you then too. You weren’t able to be the Avatar you wanted to be, but you still had value. Even if you’d never walked again, I’d still love you.”

Asami bent to kiss her, but they heard a loud “Ahem!” behind them. She straightened, and they turned to find a middle-aged man in fine robes there.

“Ladies,” he said, bowing. “I am Ren Chong, minister to the Queen.”

Korra got up and extended her hand to shake, but he did not take it. Awkwardly, she dropped her arm. “I’m Avatar Korra.”

“The Avatar…” he said, slowly, as his face paled. “I was not aware… Is this your first visit to Omashu?”

“Yeah. It’s a nice place. Quaint. Be nicer if we could move around and see more of it.”

“My apologies. The Queen has ordered the delegation kept here...for your safety...and so it must be. We were not informed that the Avatar was part of the delegation.”

“I’m not. I’m a guest of Asami Sato. She’s a member.” Korra looked with a grin at Asami.

Ren Chong frowned slightly, but quickly his face was impenetrable again.

“So what’s the plan? When can we go?” Korra asked.

“We have had no news from Republic City about Xin Ling. The Air Nomads continue to refuse to release him to the queen.”

“So what can we do for you?” Asami asked.

“The queen would like Miss Sato to answer some questions. She is… interested… in some of your… work.”

Korra didn’t care for the minister’s tone. “Asami creates some pretty cutting-edge technology.”

“Indeed,” he said, his voice flat. 

She folded her arms, squared her feet and shoulders. Her grin was a challenge. “For the benefit of everybody,” she added.

Ren Chong’s eyes were cold. “If you would come with me, Miss Sato?”

Asami gave Korra a shrug, and when he turned, she moved to follow him. Korra started too, and the minister stopped.

“Just Miss Sato. The queen did not mention the Avatar.”

Korra huffed, but Asami put a soft hand on her arm. “That’s fine, isn’t it, Korra? Since she’s not actually part of the delegation, she should be free to move about the city, wouldn’t you say? I mean, who better to help resolve a dispute than the Avatar?” 

The minister’s face was horrified and angry. “But… but...”

Korra chuckled. “I’m sure Miss Sato will be perfectly capable of answering the queen’s questions without me, yes. I do believe I will go for a stroll!” She stretched and flexed her muscles, winking at Asami.

Asami blushed, but maintained her composure. It was Ren Chong’s turn to huff, but he turned on his heel. 

“Don’t worry about me,” she called. “I think I’ll be safe!”

Asami choked back a laugh, and then they were gone.

* * *

Queen Daiyu was young. Lin had warned them, at a security briefing before the delegation left, about how isolated Omashu had become since the old king there had passed away, and his daughter was too young to rule. The regent, who went down when Kuvira’s Empire did, had left behind a city that was superstitious and backward, treating tradition as paramount, and viewing the outside world as corrupt.

Lin and Kya assisted them through a contagion, along with Bumi and Kai, who’d been delivering supplies from above as they happened on the city. It had been Lin’s hope that Zaofu would become better associated with Omashu after that incident; she didn’t explicitly tell Suyin about the troubles in the city, but she calculated that her sister would be eager to make a new ally so close to them. She’d been confident that Queen Daiyu would reach out to make those connections.

Asami was surprised, then, to find that no one from Zaofu had yet visited. When the trade delegation arrived, the city was at the beginning of their internal conflict. The riot took place and they watched helplessly from the windows of the airship. Korra had wanted to intervene, but Asami and Varrick and several other officials warned her that no matter how she ended the riot, each side would claim that the Avatar had taken the other’s side. It was painful to see the frustration in Korra’s eyes, knowing she wanted to help them so badly.

And now she had an audience with the queen, and was struck by just how very young she was. Younger than she herself had been when she took over Future Industries… and that was one of the hardest things she’d ever done. To be younger yet, and responsible for a whole city?

“Your highness,” Asami began.

“Just a minute,” Queen Daiyu said. She stood up from her throne and gestured at the two guards. “Leave us.”

The two burly guards nodded and exited, and closed the heavy doors behind them.

Asami was curious. A private meeting with the queen.

“I really, really need your help,” Queen Daiyu said. “I can’t take this anymore. I don’t know what to do!”

* * *

With an expression of glee, Korra leapt over the balcony of the palace on the top level of Omashu, and rode an air scooter down a nearby chute almost all the way to the bottom level of the city, even below the level of the city gate. She landed in a dim alleyway. Sunlight filtered through the maze of chutes and street bridges above. There were homes here, Omashu’s ordinary citizens. Here and there were some people going about their business; a few noticed her descent, eyes wide.

She waved cheerfully to them. None approached, and when she hopped onto the cobblestones, a few backed away.

She paused. “Hey! Hi!”

Some took the opportunity to flee.

“Well, that didn’t work out so great,” she muttered to herself. 

She continued on, following the curving street that encircled the lowest portion of the city. Here, it seemed life was normal enough, though the people were clearly poor. There were still villages in remote parts of the former Earth Kingdom that were like this. Fewer all the time, with the introduction of rail service, of course, and electric and phone lines going up everywhere, but there will still a few isolated pockets.    
  
But this was a whole city. Omashu was almost as populous as Republic City, with thousands of citizens, but this place seemed not to have changed since Aang had been here. No wires to be seen, no electric lights or radios. She passed a woman washing clothes outside on a scrubbing board, and then hanging them on a rope with a pulley that she pulled up toward a window… there were electric washers in Republic City.

There were no cars, it struck her.

She continued on, and came across a small open plaza, which had some vendors selling fruit and vegetables. One had a whole huge cart of cabbage, and the man there eyed her with great suspicion. A group of boys were playing a game, kicking around a small round boulder. These boys were benders, and off to the edge of the plaza, she could see other children their age watching the game. Non-benders.

A stray kick sent the stone at her, but her quick reflexes allowed her to smoothly spin it around her body. She tossed it effortlessly into the air, and as it came down she spun it atop her finger, drawing admiring sounds from the young players. Then she broke it into three pieces, and juggled them for the kids, while they laughed and gasped in amazement.

“You’re a good bender!” one said.

“I’ve had a little practice,” she admitted, with a lopsided grin.

She melded the three stones back into the boulder, and with a spin gave the ball a polish, so that it gleamed. Then she launched it at a taller boy hanging back, his arms folded. He was trying desperately to seem unimpressed. Surprised, he managed to dodge it, and it thudded on the ground behind him.

“Gotta move fast,” she called.

“Outside the city gates lies corruption,” the boy said.

“Wha-at?” Korra laughed, incredulous.

“You heard me,” the boy snarled, and ran off.

The other boys were very uncertain what to do. They looked frightened, and some clearly wanted to run.

Korra looked up the alleyway where the tall boy had run, and the others took her glance away as their opportunity to bolt. They scattered in all directions. 

The non-bender children were mesmerized. They stayed where they were, perhaps not believing they would be noticed. Korra walked slowly across the plaza to them, and knelt down on one knee. A girl, maybe six or seven years old, came up to her.

“Do you know what that boy meant?” she asked. 

“Outside the city gates lies corruption,” the young girl said, as though reciting a school lesson. “Omashu’s traditions will keep us safe from evil spirits.”

“What evil spirits?” Korra asked.

“I dunno… that’s just what Daddy tells us at night before bed.”

_This is nuts!_ Korra thought.

“Where’s your mommy?”

“At home with the baby.”

“Can we go see her?”

The little girl shrugged. The children started up they alleyway, and Korra followed.

They came to a small house tucked into a corner. There was someone inside, shouting. The young girl who’d led her there stopped in front of her, and then fled, melting into the shadows with the rest of the children. Korra stood alone in the dim street, listening. She moved closer.

“I’m sorry! The baby was up all night! I fell asleep!” a woman’s voice cried.

There was the sound of pottery shattering inside, and a man’s voice yelling “Idiot!”

Korra dashed to the door and threw it wide. Inside was a woman on her knees on the ground, a baby at her breast, and a man in a guard’s uniform, his fist raised.

She was already in motion, her arms pulling at the air, and a great gust of wind sucked the man across the room and threw him past Korra out the door. He tumbled into the street.

She stomped out and stood over him.

“Try and hit  _ me, _ you piece of filth.”

The guard scrambled to his feet, and heaved a boulder from the ground, flinging it at Korra. With a twist of her hand, it blasted into powder in front of her. She took a step forward, her eyes dark with anger.

“How dare you threaten a woman with a baby?” she demanded. Her eyes began to glow.

The guard’s face filled with fear. He turned again, throwing more large stones, and then spun away to run.

Korra raised a wall of flame that reached twice their height all around the two of them.

“Coward,” she said, her voice multiplied by the avatar state. “Stand and fight me.”

“Mercy!” he wailed.

“Why? When you had none?”

He fell to his knees and groveled, his face on the dusty stones. He pulled down the bowl-shaped helmet he wore with both hands and trembled.

She let the wall of flame dissipate, and stood in front of him. Her eyes returned to normal, and she watched his display of abject terror.

“You belong in prison,” she said. 

“Wait,” the woman called, from behind her, the baby crying. “There’s no point. There’s no law against it.”

Korra turned to look at her, and the dusty streaks of tears on the woman’s face said more than anything she’d heard about this city so far. This was wrong. This was a grave injustice. If this was Omashu’s “tradition”, that tradition would be coming to an end.

Korra once again addressed the guard. “If you say even an angry word to her, from now on, I will take away your bending. Understand?”

Without raising his head, he nodded into the dirt.

“I am the Avatar,” Korra said. “This city is out of balance. Balance must be restored.”


	6. Disconnected

Not to check on her children was more difficult than she thought. Toph caught herself several times during the day about to put her hand to the vines.

Turns out, she was becoming a little… lonely? No… just bored. Nah. Not lonely.

Very bored.

Stupid spirit.

* * *

In the morning Suyin did not get out of bed. Bataar woke at the usual hour and left her to sleep, wondering if the quiet helped her get some extra rest. He knew she needed it.

She felt him rise, and pretended she was still sleeping, controlling her breath. She hadn't slept well at all. The words from the note under her dinner burned in her like a hot coal. She'd hidden it from Bataar.

Who'd written them? What did they want? What did they mean, she'd be able to listen? She'd always listened, hadn't she?

She had to make decisions that some people didn’t like. But that was her role! To lead! To decide, when there were different opinions about what way to go!

Who was it? Who was so dissatisfied… and afraid? that they couldn't just talk to her about it?

Was she that hard to approach?

Mom had always taught her to face things, approach them head-on, to be decisive. And so she was. Regret was useless; unavoidable, perhaps, but it didn't solve any problems.

The motivation for her choices was always based on the well-being of her family and her city. Who wasn't she hearing? Who wasn't coming forward to talk to her?

This was a damned fine time to find this out! She couldn't just go talking to everyone, not until she had a way to do it smoothly. Writing conversations was tedious, and it would take time to learn how to hear things with seismic sense, if it could be done at all.

Who? Who was it? 

_ “Some of us have lost far more than that, and we had much less than you to begin with.”  _

Hadn’t everyone in Zaofu lost something? What did that mean? She’d lost a son, the woman she’d raised as her own daughter. She’d lost her domes, her sense of security… and her hearing! And now she was about to lose…

_ Well, Su? What? Control? _

Kuvira had seized control. Su had refused to yield hers, but she’d also refused to address the chaos in the Earth Kingdom, to take power that wasn’t hers. 

She thought back to her days when she’d run away to join the circus. They’d been a family. The sandbender commune, that was a family too. Wasn’t Zaofu a family anymore?

But in those days, in those families, nobody talked about power, about control. It was about taking care of each other. She’d missed the togetherness when Mom was always gone, when Lin was trying to control her, so she joined other families. Ever since the Red Lotus infiltrated Zaofu, that feeling of family… it changed. Aiwei broke her trust. Her city wasn’t invincible. Then Kuvira’s betrayal.

Just last night, Bataar and the boys had surrounded her. She still had them… wasn’t that enough?

The questions in her mind did not resolve. She got up, aching from being in bed too long, and went to the bathroom. In the mirror, she saw herself, exhausted, pale, dark-eyed, her hair in disarray.

In the shower, she wept.

* * *

 

Lin felt them approach before she heard them. The air bison landed in the back yard, silently, but she could feel their footsteps coming up the path from the garden. Kya and… somebody. A man.

She sat up on the sofa, stretched and yawned.

“Who’d you bring home for dinner?” she asked, cheerfully, pleased with herself that she’d been able to sense them both.

“It’s me,” Tenzin said, his voice surprised at her buoyancy.

“Oh.”

“I had to tell him, Lin,” Kya said, apologetically. “I’m so worried about you, and I wanted to talk to him about it.”

“You could have talked to me,” Lin said. “I thought…”

“Don’t be too hard on her, Lin,” Tenzin interrupted. “She didn’t want to hold you back. You’re clearly adjusting to this much better than anyone could have ever expected.”

“So… why are you here, then? Have you changed your mind about Xin Ling?”

“No, the situation remains the same until the queen takes the death penalty off the table.”

“DId you expect to find me easier to negotiate with me this way?” she asked, bitterly.

Kya sat beside her, and took her hand.

“Zaofu sent a cable to Air Temple Island, looking for Mom. Your sister’s hearing is gone, without explanation, and their acupuncturist can’t help. I can’t believe this is a simple coincidence.”

Suyin unable to hear. That would hit her sister hard. These past few years hadn’t been kind to her.

“We should go,” she said. “Do we even know where Katara is?”

Kya bit her lip. 

“What’s the matter?” Lin asked, after she didn’t respond.

“Suyin… she doesn’t like me.”

Lin laughed until she couldn’t breathe. Tenzin and Kya looked at each other, baffled.

Tenzin could not help himself. “Why is that funny?”

“I  _ have _ to hear this story,” Lin said, when she mastered herself. “Because when she was little, she had the biggest crush on you!”


	7. Connecting Dots

She’d had enough. Just who did this spirit think it was, anyway? She’d been in this damned Swamp for thirty years! If she wanted to use the vines to keep up with her family, then she was gonna do it! The spirit could threaten her all it wanted…it could go ahead and try to stop her.

It had been a long couple of days already. She was bored, and yes, she finally admitted to herself, lonely. And anxious, too, because try as she might not to, she worried about her kids. They were her girls!

She lay back on her smooth root, settling into the comfortable spots, and put her hand on the vine at her side. She relaxed and reached out with her qi, just like she was bending earth, thinking about Suyin.

She felt the vibrations, and in that inexplicable way she had of seeing, Toph knew Su was troubled, and whatever it was, it was hard. She was isolated. Toph read the echoes of her weeping, the sound waves of her sobs through the vines.

What the hell?

With a cold spot forming in the pit of her stomach, she refocused her energy, and reached out to see Lin.

Lin… her hands extended, searching, in her own house. Why was she walking around with her eyes closed? There was an odd sense that Toph felt, like her own reaching out, but in the other direction, as though Lin were reaching out toward her… but less concentrated, just outward, trying to read her surroundings. She was seismic sensing in her own home? She… she was blind.

Now Toph knew what the spirit meant about how she would learn fear. That… that damned evil spirit! Hurting her girls! To get back at her!

She sat upright, and shouted, “...!”

Her hands flew to her mouth. What was wrong with her voice?

She spat a curse, “...!!”

The words were there in her brain, but they were coming out of her mouth as nothing. Her voice was gone, her tongue frozen.

Now she knew how Su was isolated. She’d bet the last yuan she had that her daughter was struck deaf. 

Deaf, blind and dumb. 

Oh, that spirit was going to pay for this. She wasn’t sure how, just yet, but she wasn’t going to stand for it.

* * *

 

A good long cry in the shower helped to level out Suyin’s emotions. She dressed and sought out something to eat. 

No one was in their home. She wandered around its emptiness, feeling the changes in temperature and pressure around her from room to room. How much could she sense?

She headed toward the kitchen, but just before entering, she put a hand on the door, doing her best to feel through it, to sense if anyone were in there. Maybe? There was a buzzing, slight, sometimes fine, sometimes coarser. Maybe two people, a man and a woman talking?

Curious, she pushed through, and indeed there were two people in there, her head chef and a younger man... not far off. With practice, maybe she’d get somewhere.

They were surprised to see her, and bowed slightly. 

The chef looked at her squarely, and spoke clearly, trying to make sure she could see him speaking. “Is there something you would like?”

She understood. “Yes, if you have anything ready.”

He gestured to his assistant, who went over to a refrigerator and pulled out a plate of fruit. 

They followed her to the dining room, and she was served, and then disappeared back into the kitchen.

She considered the exchange. Did her chef know anyone who had lost their hearing? He seemed to know exactly how to address her so that he could be understood, and he didn’t look at her with any pity. That seemed to ease her mind a little… though it pained her to know that news of her malady had spread. The whole city had to know by now.

As she was eating, Wing and Wei breezed through, waving. They seemed happy… maybe things weren’t as dire as she’d been feeling. 

She finished, and went back to her office to get a notepad. She could go out and look around, explore the world without sound, and see what she could see. Her peripheral vision seemed to have improved too; she was noticing her household staff going about their business in a way she hadn’t before.

A guard accompanied her on her walk about Zaofu. She walked behind, not in front, so that if the guard were to say something Suyin could see her turn around. They went to the construction site, and Suyin was startled to see how much progress had been made. Surely this was more than she’d seen even yesterday!    
  
It was beautiful. She stood back and tried to take it all in. The stonework looked so natural that it might have always been this way, since the valley was formed, and yet it was cleverly integrated into shelter and seating. Light flowed into places from above, some dimmer, some brighter, without the need for power. Yet there were electric lights, too, hidden, but reflecting to bring out the gleam in quartz and mica. Plants and trees were arranged as though Nature had placed them there itself.

And this was just the library! The city center still had much of its original shape, stone buildings made with steel. Kuvira had taken a great deal of their metal, and all of the platinum, but not everything. Where there had been damage the stone had been reshaped, sometimes with fluid curves, the remaining metals used as decoration rather than structurally.

Bataar’s original designs for the city had been about progress, science and technology. Shapes were symmetrical and geometric, standing in contrast to the beautiful valley around them. Now edges were softened, and Huan’s aesthetic was noticeable in irregular shapes. Walls were rebuilt with stacked stones, blending into the old structures so that it seemed like a seamless transition, either that order was being created from chaos, or vice versa, depending on which direction you took down any given street.

“Pei,” she said, snagging the guard’s sleeve. “How long ago did they finish this?”

The guard turned and looked at her, puzzled.  _ Last fall,  _ she scribbled on the pad.

Suyin was shocked. How had she missed this?

They continued on, into a more residential area. Once again she was stricken by how much had changed without her realizing it. She’d seen it all before, on her rounds about the city, but she hadn’t  _ noticed. _

Further on, the homes seemed to be completely, utterly transformed. Some were covered with grass, like small hills with doors and windows; there were apartment buildings that looked like stony outcrops of the nearby mountains. From a distance, one might not be aware humans lived here at all.

She didn’t remember this. How could she forget? Had she been out this far from the city center recently? How long had it been?

Suyin was shaken. Sure, she’d been under a lot of pressure. But this? She’d been so absorbed with the negotiations about the platinum, the political reconstitution of the Earth Kingdom, so consumed with regret about Kuvira and Junior, so focused on the logistics of recovery, she’d forgotten about the actual reconstruction?

Well, but Bataar and Huan had been taking care of that, so she hadn’t had to worry about it… right?

_ Is something wrong, Ma’am?  _ Pei wrote.

“I’m sorry, Pei,” she said. How long had she been standing here, looking, while Pei waited attentively beside her? She hadn’t been paying attention to her, either.

She hadn’t been listening.

“Let’s go back,” she said.

* * *

 

“Now might be a good time to settle old differences,” Tenzin suggested.

Kya shrugged. “It was a really long time ago. I doubt she remembers.”

“Suyin… Beifong?” Lin said, still amused.

“Oh, all right, all right!” Kya laughed. “She probably hasn’t forgotten. But it’s clear to me that she would much rather have Mom than me.”

“Finding Mom right now would be difficult. It would probably be best if you did go, just the same. A gesture of goodwill,” Tenzin said. 

“We haven’t seen her since Kuvira took the city, anyway. I haven’t written her about the two of us.” 

“Time does get away,” Tenzin remarked.

“Would you like to join us for dinner?” Lin asked, and Tenzin smiled. His sister was good for her, he thought to himself.

“No, I should be getting back to the Island.”

And so Tenzin lifted off on Oogi, headed home. Kya went to the kitchen phone to order something for dinner.

“So,” Lin said. 

“So.”

“You could have come talk to me, you know,” she said.

“I know, Lin, but Tenzin’s right. I didn’t want to make you feel bad, especially when you’re doing so well with this.”

Lin leaned back on the sofa. “I guess so… but Tenzin?”

“He is my brother, after all.”

Lin was quiet.

“I’m not going to take sides. Tenzin’s in a bind too. This guy… how do we know he’s not a murderer? But if we send him back to Omashu, how do we know they won’t execute him? Dad would have done the same as Tenzin’s doing. We don’t have all the evidence here. There’s no way for us to know whether he’s telling the truth. And even if he isn’t, and he  _ is _ the killer, the Air Nomads are bound not to send him to his death.”

“Mom used to be able to tell when a person was lying. Do you remember that?”

“No. She could?”

“She could feel changes in breathing and heartbeat. She always knew when Su or I were trying to pull a fast one. We couldn’t get away with anything.”

“That’s useful,” Kya chuckled. “At least for a parent.”

“I’ve never been able to quite manage it. Sort of like the seeing with feet.”

“Do you think you could… now? With what’s happened?”

Lin shrugged. “Don’t know. I didn’t think about that.”

“How did it go today?”

“I think it went well. See?” Lin reached for the table where she’d left her whiskey glass, found it, and rose to pour herself another.

“Lin! That’s amazing! In just a couple of hours?”

“Right now I don’t have much other option. Want one?”

“Sure!”

“I  _ am _ tired. It takes a lot of concentration.”

Kya took the glass when she returned, and sipped. “It’s just the first day, Lin! Give yourself some credit!”

“I still have to come up with a story for Mako… I have no lead with Xin Ling.”

“Do you think you should just tell him?”

Lin tasted her whiskey. “Not yet. Not until… not until he needs to know. We should go to Zaofu, and find out why this has happened to us.”

“If Suyin lets me in, that is.”

“Yeah, okay. So tell me about that. What happened?”

Kya moved into the space under Lin’s arm, She sighed.

“This isn’t a funny story.”

“Noted.”

“So I was traveling through the southern Earth Kingdom, taking life one day at a time, you know, like I’d been doing for years. I decided I absolutely had to have those cabbage rolls from Omashu, so I headed that direction. On the way, I took a fork in the road somewhere, thinking maybe it was a shortcut, and found myself in this lush, quiet, beautiful valley.”

“It is a nice place.”

“I was at the southeast part of the valley, but I could see there were people camped up at the northwest end, near the taller peaks. They were building roads at the time. I was curious, because it looked like they were making amazing progress. They had some very powerful earthbenders. They’d already diverted the river through the center of the valley to create a moat around the camp. 

“I kept my distance the first night, but I could hear them from where I was, all laughing and singing. They were having a great time. I was alone, with just my bedroll, and to be safe I didn’t make a fire, because I didn’t know whether these were bandits or what. But it was pretty clear after that first night that they weren’t there to make trouble, because at a certain hour, not very late, the whole place cooled off and they went to bed. The whole bunch of them. If it had been bandits or something, they’d have partied all night.

“So the next morning I went over to say hello. They were a little suspicious, and they sent a couple of burly guys over to go with me, to take me into the camp. I suppose it’s a good idea, from their point of view, to be careful about strangers, but at the time I didn’t understand, because I was just little peace-loving me against a whole bunch of earthbenders.”

Lin gave her a gentle squeeze. “I’ve seen you fight. You’d have taken quite a few.”

“Maybe,” Kya mused, “but I was a lot younger then.”

“Anyway, they took me to this one tent, where this one woman was directing everything. She was gorgeous, and in command, but at the same time she called everybody by name. She looked a little familiar, but I couldn’t place her face at the time.

“She seemed a little bit bothered that I was interrupting her, but once I introduced myself, she was falling over herself with excitement. I guess if she’d had a crush on me when she was little, that would explain it. I just chalked it up to the whole ‘small world’ thing. Sometimes I’d run into somebody from Republic City, or somebody who knew Mom and Dad, and they’d always be excited to learn who I was, so far from home.

“So I stayed with them for several days. I helped them with some of the bridge work, and I’d hold back the water while they set the pilings. I also took care of a few minor injuries, and they really appreciated that. It was fun. 

“They did have a good time at the end of the work day, and it was nice to have hot meals and a shower and a bed for a change. They did a lot of storytelling and singing at night, and they’d talk about all the great things they were going to do when the city was built. It was really a cheerful place. 

“Now, right from the first night I could see that Su was hooked up with a nice guy, so I didn’t try to intrude on them. But I did meet a pretty girl named Na Wen, and we hit it off  _ very _ well.

“Su kept a pretty disciplined camp. Everybody went to bed a few hours after dinner, so they’d be fresh in the morning for work. Nobody complained, because it was kind of the general feeling that they were in this together, like a family. She acted a lot like a mother hen, which struck me as a little strange, remembering how you and she…”

“I know,” Lin said. “I know what you mean.”

“So one night, Na Wen showed up in my tent, after curfew, and I was… well… I was pretty happy to have a guest. I made it clear I wasn’t going to be staying much longer, and she was all right with that, so we had a good time together.”

Lin sighed.

“It was a long time ago, Lin.”

“I know. Go on.”

Kya took a deep breath.

“So that happened a few nights in a row, but on the fourth night, Suyin showed up. Unexpectedly. At… at kind of the wrong time.”

Lin started to laugh again. “I thought you said this wasn’t a funny story.”

Kya grinned. “Okay, well… yeah, now it’s funny, but then it was kind of mortifying. Su’s face… spirits, Lin!”

“Did you break her heart, then?”

“Well, I thought it was just… I don’t know. Maybe I did. But she was with that guy! I don’t know.”

“You didn’t do anything wrong, Kya. You were being you.”

“I was. But I was embarrassed. Oh, spirits. You have no idea.”

“Oh, I have an idea, all right.”

“Anyway, the next morning, Suyin asked me to leave. Said I was a… what was it? Distraction? For some of her people. And the way she said it. It kind of bothered me.”

“What do you mean?”

“‘Her’ people. Like she had a sense of ownership or something. I mean, they all seemed to love her and respect her, like a mother, but she was more than happy to take it. She really seemed to enjoy being in charge. Like she was entitled to it. She really got into giving orders, delivered with a smile, of course.”

Lin thought about this. During her time in Zaofu, she’d reconciled with her sister, but she could understand what Kya was talking about. Suyin did very much enjoy being the center of attention. Family was everything, but crossing her wasn’t a great idea.

“Did you say anything?”

“What do you think?”

“Oh dear.”

“I told her I wasn’t interested in being part of her entourage. She didn’t like that at all. Told me that everyone there was there voluntarily, and she was encouraging all of them to ‘reach their highest potential’. She believed it, and I suppose they did too, but wow. The whole thing kinda creeped me out.”

“You are the freest of free spirits, my dear,” Lin said, applying a kiss to her silver hair.

“Anyway. I went my way on to Omashu, and pretty much put the whole thing behind me. Until, you know, the Red Lotus, and all that.”

Lin’s face was thoughtful. “Nothing like when she was young. She was wild then.” Kya saw her hand move to the scars on her cheek.

“Lin. Is that how you got the scars?”

“I didn’t tell you?”

“I just assumed it was from work. I didn’t know Suyin was responsible.”

“Technically it  _ was _ from work. I caught her hanging around with the Terra Triad.”

“Gangs sometimes stand in for families,” Kya commented. “Maybe that’s all that she ever really wanted.”

“Maybe.” 

The doorbell rang. Dinner.

  
  



	8. The High and the Low

Asami stared at the young queen blankly.

“I don’t know who to trust. I think my ministers are plotting to kill me,” she said. Her voice was even, but her face was drawn and pale, as though she hadn’t eaten or slept in some days.

“How...but...Are you sure?”

“Nobody’s told me directly, no, but I hear them whispering, and I can see the way they look at me. Now that Hai Bao, Liling and Nuan are gone…” she paused, trying to control her voice, “I can see that they won’t stop until I am too.”

“Those were your ministers?” Asami asked, gently.

“Yes,” she replied, and her eyes began to shine with tears. “They were my aunts. They warned me about the old ones. They told me they would oppose anything I tried to do.” Her voice was shaking.

“But the murderer has fled. He’s on Air Temple Island now. That’s why we’re still here. I don’t understand.”

Daiyu burst into tears on her throne, and Asami’s heart broke. The poor thing was terrified and miserable, and she looked so tiny and frail on the huge seat.

She sat down on the step just in front of the throne, and put a comforting hand on Daiyu’s knee. The girl slid down next to her, as any young girl might. Asami put an arm around her shoulder.

“What’s wrong?”

“I’m sorry, Miss Sato. I didn’t mean to break down like this. But I can’t take it anymore.”

“Oh, believe me, I understand. You’re under more pressure than anybody your age should be.”

“I hope you’re not mad at me for making you a hostage.”

Asami chuckled, remembering what Korra had said. “We feel like guests, rather than hostages. But please, help me understand. Hasn’t the murderer already fled to Air Temple Island?”

Daiyu covered her face with her hands. “It wasn’t him,” she said, finally. “It wasn’t him.”

“Why don’t you just let him come back then? And say there won’t be a death penalty?”

“You don’t understand… _they_ will. If I let him come back, you’ll be able to leave, and they’ll kill him _and_ me. I don’t want a death penalty in Omashu, but I’ve said there will be, to make them think twice before they do anything. And as long as you’re here, they’re on their best behavior, but once you’re gone, I’m done for. They’ll make it look like an accident. They don’t want to look like crazies to the rest of the world.”

“They kinda already do, though.”

“The ‘traditions’ are all for show. None of them believe the spirits would put curses on us, I don’t think. At least not now, after the two women from Republic City were here last year. Kya, the water tribe healer, she told us she was just using bending, but after they left the ministers told the people it was because she had spirit magic. A lot of people refused to take the medicines the airbenders brought from Zaofu, because they didn’t trust it. We lost a few more people before the other healers arrived, and the ministers blamed Kya for leaving. They knew Chief Beifong told me I should have some women on my council, and my ministers did anything they could to undermine me after that.”

Asami was appalled. Kya had healed thousands.

“They do want trade with all the other nations, because it will make them rich. But the common people of the city still believe in the traditions, and it’s how they keep their power. As long as they keep the people afraid, and hungry, they’ll do what the ministers want. That’s why they put that rule in… nothing to replace the benders.”

“Aren’t the guards loyal to you? Or the younger ministers?”

“The guards were fighting each other during the riot. It’s only good luck that you arrived when you did. Some are loyal, some are not, but I don’t know which ones, and what would I do if I trusted the wrong ones?”

“But so how do you know the man who’s with the Air Nomads didn’t… do that?”

“Xin Ling…” she doubled over, sobbing. “He was sleeping… with me… when they died.”

The poor girl was so lost, Asami realized. Merely a teenager, burdened with the worst kind of political intrigue, not knowing who was a friend and who wasn’t.

“Did you ask him to leave?” Asami asked, gently.

Daiyu shook her head.

_And abandoned by her lover._ Asami was sickened. She pulled the young queen close, and let her cry on her shoulder.

* * *

When Korra’s fury abated, she walked the streets of Omashu, watching. She watched the vendors with their wares, the children playing in the shadows. She watched guards at gates, her eyes half-lidded with contempt. 

She rose through the city, up staircases and across bridges. She saw what she’d seen in Republic City and Ba Sing Se… the poor segregated from the wealthy. Higher up, there was more sunlight, there were cleaner streets. Children were less visible… perhaps they were in school. Open stall markets were replaced with shops and restaurants. There were green spaces; small parks with trees and cleverly-made waterfalls to keep them verdant.

There were eyes on her too. Somehow word of the incident down in the lowest level had made its way up, and the guards were watching her in return. The citizens here seemed less afraid, but no more eager to greet and speak to her. At an open café a group of well-dressed women spoke behind their hands as she passed, failing to hide their curiosity.

It was midafternoon, and the day was growing hot. She stopped in a bar for a drink.

A thin man with a pencil mustache appeared behind the bar. Korra’s eyes were still adjusting to the dark interior when he asked her, “What do you want?”

“A glass of water,” she snarled.

“Nothing’s free. Do you want a drink or not?”

“Are you always this rude to your customers?”

“You’re not from Omashu.”

“Genius powers of observation. Beer.”

The bartender pushed a bottle toward her, glowering.

“What’s your problem?” she asked.

“Three yuans.”

She slapped the coins on the bar.

“You’re with that trade group from outside. Nobody wants you here.”

“No, actually, I’m not. I came with them, but I’m not one of them. And actually, mister, the queen _did_ want us here, or we wouldn’t have been invited in the first place.”

The man turned and muttered.

“Excuse me?” Korra said, rather loudly.

He didn’t answer, but a voice from a dark corner said, “It’s not safe for a little girl like you here.”

Korra sat on a barstool and sipped her beer, ignoring the voice.

“You must be hard of hearing, little girl,” the voice said.

Korra grunted.

“A little girl, all alone, and water tribe too. Not safe at all.”

Korra spun around lazily on the barstool to look at him. “I wouldn’t say that.”

“No? You’re not afraid?” The tall, bearded guard leaned into her space.

She rolled her eyes and sighed. _What is it with men? Why is it always a fight?_

“No.”

“If you’re _man_ enough, come outside and show me,” he said. As he did, he slapped his hand on the bar beside her.

“I have a beer to finish.”

“Take your time, little girl.” He turned and returned to a table of guards, all grinning and leering. They laughed hard when he sat back down with them.

She turned back to her beer and had another sip. Then she noticed, at her elbow, a pai sho tile. A White Lotus.


	9. In Motion

Toph went to the well. Yelling was pointless, and sensing the vibrations of a spirit’s body… could that even be done? In thirty years she’d never felt it in the spring. But she still had her bending, and she was determined to smack the stupid smile off its face, if it had a face.

At the spring, she stomped as hard as she could, which was considerable. She sensed the vibrations from the entire swamp at once, all coming back to her in crystal clarity; she knew where every bird and insect was, where all the sweaty swamp benders were sleeping the morning away. She knew the outlines of every branch, every leaf. She felt the ripples in the water of the well, and the pools and ponds and rivers throughout. She knew where the fish and the catgators were hiding.

But no spirit.

Frustrated, she tore an enormous boulder out of the ground, and sent it into the well with a tremendous splash, sealing the spring shut. The water would emerge elsewhere, eventually, but for now let the stupid spirit deal with the stone.

It wasn’t satisfying. What she really wanted was to give that spirit a thorough chewing out, and demand an explanation for why it thought it was okay to take this argument out on her girls. If she had to apologize, then so be it, but she wasn’t going to let that floating jerk get away with this without a fight.

And then, of course, it was time to talk to her girls. She went back to her place, gathered up a few things, and started walking. Zaofu was closer than Republic City, so best to start there. 

Toph wished like hell she didn’t have to explain to them that it had been her argument with the spirit that caused them to lose their hearing and vision, but maybe fessing up to it would help them think of some sort of solution. If she didn’t have to eat crowsparrow in front of the spirit to fix this, so much the better.

After all, all she’d been doing was checking in on them. What was so wrong with that?

* * *

 

She’d been so wrapped up in her own emotions about Kuvira and Junior that she didn’t even know things were getting better all around her.

Going on without her.

The sting of embarrassment blossomed into a hot anger. This was so unfair! What had she done to deserve any of this? Why? Why did Kuvira and her own son betray her? Why were the cities of the Earth Kingdom so obdurate about the platinum? That was hers! Why did they just keep rebuilding the city, and why hadn’t they shown her the progress? Why couldn’t she hear now? Why couldn’t Guo heal her?

All her adult life she’d worked, hard, to build the best city in the world. Broken by others, being rebuilt by others. It was her money that bought the land, her will that made it happen! She’d been generous, immensely so, helping people reach their potential… and what did they do in return? They betrayed her. They left her behind.

She’d had a rough time coping with Kuvira and Junior… but who was there to help her come out of it? Huan and Bataar were back at work. Wing and Wei were unfazed. Opal… Opal was gone! Why hadn’t she come back? Were the airbenders her family now? Did she not care about her own mother anymore?

One of the boys had left one of their game discs on her desk. Playing games. Leaving things around. Like there was nothing the matter. Like everything was perfectly fine. 

Suyin metalbent the disc into a lump, and heaved it across her office. She could feel the vibration through the floor as the iron smashed into a painting on the wall, tearing it, and leaving a jagged hole.

She was aghast. The metal lump had destroyed one of Huan’s paintings. 

Pei, the guard, burst through the door, ready to fight. “Lady?” she asked as she scanned the room.

“It’s nothing,” she said sharply, and saw Pei wince at her words. She still had no idea at what volume she was speaking.

Pei nodded and left.

Suyin scowled and went back to her chair, and dropped into it heavily. She turned to look again at the papers on it, hoping to get a little relief by doing more correspondence.

And then she noticed, where the disc had been, another envelope, like the one that had been under her dish the night before.

> Lady Beifong,
> 
> Are you ready to listen yet?
> 
> The People of Zaofu

She dropped the letter as if it had bitten her.

How the hell were they leaving notes on her desk? Who could get in here?

“Pei!” she shouted. 

The guard hurried in and saluted. “Yes Ma’am?” was on her lips.

“Gather the staff. Somebody’s been in here that shouldn’t have been. I want to know who.”

* * *

 

Lin called in. “We’re following this lead to Omashu. I don’t know when I’ll be back.”

Mako’s tone was strange. “Gotcha, Chief. That’s what I’ll tell 'em.”

She paused. Did he not believe her? “That’s what I’m telling you. We’re going to Omashu.”

“Right. Yeah. I know. I’ve got it covered.”

Had he found out already?

She pressed on. “Have you heard from anyone in the trade delegation? Varrick? Asami?”

“No. There hasn’t been any word since that last communication from the Queen.”

“Kya’s coming with me.”

“I know.”

“All right, Mako. What’s going on? How do you know?”

“You keep saying ‘we,’ Chief. Who else would it be?”

Lin harrumphed. Of course.

“I’ll try to send word once we get there,” she growled, and hung up before he could answer again.

Kya came in from the bedroom, where she’d been packing a bag for them both. “What’s the matter?” she asked, seeing Lin’s expression.

“Do you think Tenzin told anybody what happened?”

“I don’t know,” Kya admitted. “Why is that a problem?”

Lin shrugged. “I don’t want anyone to know, that’s all.”

She heard Kya come close and felt hands on her shoulders, and then a kiss on her cheek.

“I’m sure that he’s being careful. He knows you. He wouldn’t do anything that would endanger you.”

“It’s nobody’s business. I don’t want any pity from anyone.”

“If you keep learning how to read the vibrations the way you have, you won’t have a problem with that.”

Lin sighed, and felt Kya’s hand trail down her arm, and their fingers twined together.

“I don’t know it well enough yet to get out of town on my own.”

It was going to be difficult to get out of the city to a place where she was less recognizable before getting on a train. Kya could sail a boat like she was born in it, but she never did learn how to drive the Satomobile.

‘Well, if you weren’t so darned beautiful, it’d be a lot easier to get by unnoticed,” Kya said, the wink in her voice.

Lin pulled their hands up to her lips, and kissed Kya’s fingers. “What about you? It’s not like you’re invisible in a crowd.” 

She felt Kya move closer, and then their lips came together. All down her length she was in contact with Kya’s body, warm and soft. The gentle kiss became suddenly passionate, and her fingers entered the long hair to pull Kya in, and in her mind the silver strands were gleaming in the morning sunlight.

But someone was approaching. She pulled back, and attempted to smooth her clothing.

Kya turned and saw through the window of the back door that a sky bison had landed in their garden, and Opal was coming up the walk toward the house.

“Who is it?” Lin asked.

Kya was startled. Lin had sensed her before she had. “It’s Opal.”

Opal’s visits to her aunt were infrequent. What time she had when not on missions with the Air Nomads she usually spent with Bolin, but Lin’s schedule did not leave much room for hosting, either.

Lin went to open the door, much to Kya’s surprise, and Opal had an astonished look as well.

“Aunt Lin? Are you all right?”

“Of course,” Lin said guardedly.

“I heard…” Opal started. “Tenzin told me you…”

Lin shook her head. “Yes, I’ve lost my vision. It’s not a big deal.”

Opal laughed. “I guess not! You’re just like Grandma Toph!”

“Don’t ever say that again,” Lin warned, but she smiled.

“Well, don’t worry… we’ll all be here for you,” her niece offered.    
  
“Who is  _ all _ ? Did Tenzin tell  _ everyone _ ?” 

“No, no. He told me about you when he told me about Mom. So I came over to see if you wanted to ride on Juicy with me to Zaofu.”

Kya laughed. “Well that’s convenient! Let’s get going!”

Opal paused. “Where’s Katara?”

“She’s not back. We’re not sure where she is. Traveling still.” Kya answered.

“Will _you_ be able to help Mom?”

Lin held her breath.

“I’ll do my best, but if it’s what’s happened to your mother is the same thing as what’s happened to Lin, it may be out of my hands. We should go compare situations and see what the similarities are.”

“Kya is as good a healer as Katara is,” Lin said. “There are none better. Suyin will be fine.”

There was a moment of quiet just then, and she could feel the warmth from Kya. She wasn’t able to see her expression, but Lin imagined it.

Kya took the bag and offered an elbow to Lin, and they went out into the garden. She felt the morning sun on her face, a light breeze, cool but fresh with the scent of the bay. She smelled the slight musk of the sky bison as the three of them approached, and its fur was softer than she remembered. She felt a puff as Opal lifted herself, airbender-style, up onto Juicy’s head, and reached out her hand to be pulled up toward the saddle. Kya had a hand lightly on her back as she climbed up.

When Kya was on, and all their things were stowed, she felt the rise as the beast lifted from the ground, and suddenly all she could feel was its breathing and heartbeat through the saddle. The wind in her hair was unnerving. Now she knew why her mother had hated flying… it was terrifying, a sort of continuous falling.

“Yip yip!’ Opal called, and the wind blew even stronger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a really hard time getting going again. I appreciate your patience.


	10. Zaofu Reunion

A couple of days of flight by sky bison was not as bad as taking the train, but it was also nothing like a nice, smooth, comfortable ride on one of Future Industries’ airships. Relief flooded through Lin when she heard Opal announce, “There’s Zaofu!”

Kya squeezed Lin’s hand, and Juicy descended toward the city. Lin squeezed back. She could sense Kya’s anxiety rising.

“Uh oh,” Opal announced, as they approached.

“What is it?” Lin asked.

“What’s that guy doing?” Kya added.

“That’s my brother Huan. That gesture he’s making? It’s a signal we used to use when we were kids.”

Huan was standing on an airship landing pad above the city, and he was rotating back and forth, his hands low around his waist, pointing outward.

“Signal?” Lin asked.

Opal laughed. “When we were kids, we came up with a set of hand signals that would let us know when Mom was in a bad mood, and how. When you were about to get in trouble, at least you had a head start knowing why she called you in. He’s spinning back and forth, which used to mean ‘Mom’s undies are in a twist.’”

“Clever,” Kya commented approvingly. “I wish we’d have thought of that!”

They came to a gentle landing, but Lin was never so glad to be back on the ground. Kya and Opal dismounted, and then Kya helped Lin feel her way down to the landing pad. Suddenly Lin could sense where she was. She had a view of a very different city from that which she remembered from her last visit; her mind’s eye showed her a vague picture of hills and trees.

“Is Aunt Lin hurt?” Huan asked. 

“Well,” Opal said. “Funny thing… she’s gone blind.”

Huan tried to grasp this. “Like, all of a sudden?”

“Just a few days ago, for no reason at all.”

“Like Mom’s deafness.”

“That’s why she came along.”

Huan then looked toward Kya doubtfully. “You are...Katara?”

“No, she’s my mother. She’s traveling, and we didn’t know where to find her, so I came instead.” Kya extended her hand. “I’m Kya. I’m also a healer.”

Huan bit his lip. 

“Mom’s not gonna like this,” he said softly. “She was expecting Katara. No offense, of course,” he added, quickly.

“None taken.” To those watching, Kya’s face was impossible to read, but it was as though Lin felt her lover’s heart sink.

“How bad is it?” Opal asked. “What’s the matter?”

"She’s not taking it very well. She destroyed my Lionturtle painting."

Opal couldn't suppress a chuckle.

Huan's lips pursed, his eyes closed, and he breathed out through flared nostrils. "Y'know, I know people don't understand my art. I explain it again and again, but it's like no one ever takes the time to really listen. My art is less about how a thing looks and more about how it makes you feel. Is that so difficult to comprehend?"

Opal had the grace to blush. "I'm sorry, Huan."

"I acknowledge that the Lionturtle was an early work, and it's not perfect. Art never is. It only strives toward perfection."

Lin was impressed by Huan's words. She knew he had talent, but thought of him as a dilettante. Yet this showed her that he was a mature artist. He’d given her a couple of his small metalwork sculptures for her collection, and she'd enjoyed them but never quite knew their meaning. Now she realized that what she felt when she saw them  _ was  _ the meaning.

“I can understand,” Lin said, finally. “No one likes to feel a loss of control, especially something as important as being able to see or hear. And I know that your mother likes to be in control of a situation. This is probably very hard on her.”

They moved to the elevator that took them down to the city level. 

“But so what happened to you, Aunt Lin?”

“We don’t know. I was driving Kya back from lunch, and suddenly I couldn’t see anything. There was no clear cause that we could determine. Kya says there’s a blockage in my qi, but that she doesn’t know what’s causing it, or how to remove it.”

“That’s exactly the same as Mom’s,” Huan said, mystified. “The acupuncturist couldn’t remove the blockage either.”

Lin recalled the way she’d relived the day she earned her scars, under Guo’s care. “He’s a very effective acupuncturist,” she remarked.

“That’s just it. It’s making Mom crazy,” Huan said. “She was hoping Katara would be able to heal her.”

“I’m afraid even she couldn’t,” Lin replied. “Kya learned everything from her, and then some. There’s something else at play here.”

The doors to the elevator opened, and Wing and Wei strode up to meet them. Opal was wrapped in their hugs right away. 

“Aunt Lin!” they said, and she felt them take her in as well. The boys were strong, and they held tight.

Lin wriggled a little to gesture. “Wing, Wei… this is Kya. She’s Katara’s daughter.”

The two young men looked at each other, suddenly concerned. 

The silence became awkward. “She’s traveling. We’re not sure where, so I came instead,” Kya explained.

“We didn’t expect you, Opal!” Wei said, trying to change the subject. “It’s been a while!”

“There’s so much to do,” Opal responded. “The airbenders are spread thin trying to help people all over the world. But I couldn’t not come see Mom now.”

Wing winced. “She’s been rough lately. Angry.”

“Why?” Opal asked.

Just then, Bataar arrived, flanked by a pair of guards.

“Lin,” he said, “I’m so glad you came. Suyin really needs you now.” He looked at Kya, and then around. “Katara’s not with you?”   


Lin, having been released from the twins’ grip, sighed, and felt for Kya’s hand. “This is Kya, Katara’s daughter. You’ve met, but it’s been a long time.”

“Oh,” Bataar responded, and he could not disguise the disappointment in his voice. But there was something else, too. 

“Before you ask, just let me assure you that Kya is every bit as good a healer as Katara. If anyone can help Su, she’s the one.”

“But—” he began.

“Katara’s retired. We don’t need to bother her. If Kya can’t help, no one can.”

“Well that’s enough of an endorsement for me!” Wing said, and they headed off into the residence.

Lin hung back a moment, and Kya with her. When the others were out of earshot, she leaned close to Kya and said in a low voice, “I love you, you know.”

“Not more than I love you right now,” Kya said.

* * *

They found Suyin outside, sitting on the stairs to the power disc field, her back to them, and bent as she rested her chin on her hands. Opal couldn’t restrain herself any longer and dashed to her mother’s side. Startled, Suyin’s face flashed anger before she recognized her daughter, and they embraced deeply, rocking back and forth as the tears flowed.

Even without realizing how, Lin knew where her sister was and that Opal was sitting next to her; she moved toward them as confidently as if her sight were back. She came around and took the place on Suyin’s other side, and put a hand on her shoulder.

Su turned, and, seeing it was Lin, sobbed again, and fell towards her, her head on Lin’s shoulder. Lin put her arms around her, comforting her.

“Lin, oh Lin! You don’t know how much it means that you came!”

There was a minute or two more as the two sisters and the young woman embraced, letting the emotion pour out. For her own part, Lin could sense concern from Opal, and a confusing mix of energies from Su: relief, but also anger, terror, frustration. No, she really wasn’t taking the loss of her hearing well.

Bataar came forward around to their front, and offered a pad of paper and a pen to Lin, but Opal shook her head and said softly, “She can’t.”

“Can’t what?” 

“Lin’s lost her sight, it seems like the same way Mom’s lost her hearing. She can’t write.”

Bataar’s eyes went wide, and he ran a nervous hand across his scalp.

“Don’t talk around me! I’m still here!” Suyin said angrily.

Opal took the pad and wrote.  _ Mom, Lin’s lost her sight. It sounds just like what’s happened to you. We came to find out if there’s some reason it’s both of you. _

“Didn’t you bring Katara?” Suyin demanded. She turned to her sister again, and Lin’s eyes were unfocused, looking at nothing, but her lips became tight, and her brows furrowed. 

Bataar looked up to the place behind them, and Opal turned. Following the line of their vision, Suyin twisted and then stood as well, and saw that Kya was waiting there, her hands folded in front of her. 

“Her?!” Suyin stepped back. “I have all this to deal with, and you bring HER with you?”

“Mom,” Wei began, putting his hands up, palms facing her.

She stepped back again and bumped into Lin.

“Watch what you’re doing!” she shouted, as Lin stumbled backward.

Bataar came forward to take his wife in his arms, but as he was doing so, Su saw out of the corner of her eye Kya moving toward them. She whirled, pulling herself out of Bataar’s grip, and heaved a stone up out of the field beside her, flinging it toward Kya.

Kya crossed her arms in front of her, bracing for the hit, but the stone exploded before it reached her. Astonished, she looked up, and saw Lin in a horse stance, her fists drawn into her sides, as she closed the earthbending form. Then she seized Suyin by the shoulders and spun her around to face her.

Lin put her hands on both sides of Su’s face, and spoke so that she could clearly see her lips. “How do you expect to keep control of a city when you can’t even control yourself?! You can’t hear? So what? I can’t see!”

* * *

Kya was shaken by the near miss, and Lin was furious that Suyin had tried to hurt her. They went off into a park at some distance from the Beifong apartments, in a common part of the city, and meditated, at Kya’s request.

“I’m not angry, Lin,” she said, after they’d spent a half an hour, quiet, in the shade of some trees. The late afternoon sun angled into the firs nearby, and lit the park with gold. Kya described all of it to Lin, who knew where all the fountains, benches and flowers were, but she missed their color.

“She’s frustrated, angry, tired, and probably very depressed,” Kya went on. “It’s a great loss.”

“It doesn’t excuse her trying to kill you,” Lin grumbled.

“It doesn’t. You’re right. But it explains it. I think if we can help her address her feelings, and get her to adapt to her situation, find some accommodations for her, she’ll feel a lot better.

“I don’t understand. It’s not that hard. Somehow, I feel like I’m no worse off than I was before it happened. I could go back to work tomorrow. Mom did the job, and I could do it too, just like she did.”

“How you’re handling it is… amazing… but... but Lin, she’s not you. Everyone handles these kinds of trauma differently.”

“I thought she had it all figured out. She had the perfect life - perfect family, a city to be proud of founding. She and Mom worked things out years before I...we… Anyway, the last time I saw her, at Varrick’s wedding, she seemed fine.”

“Nothing’s ever  _ really _ perfect, Lin. You know that.”

“Hmpf.”

“And look what happened. That one guy… her truthseer? He betrayed her. Her city wasn’t impenetrable. And then Kuvira? I mean, having raised her from a girl, only to have all that happen? She lost the city to somebody she’d treated like family.”

Lin plucked a blade of grass near her knee, and twirled it between her fingers. “Do you think her family isn’t perfect, then?”

“Her son’s in a Republic City prison right now, isn’t he?”

“Well. Yes.”

“My dad was the Avatar, remember? We all loved each other, but he still spent all his time with Tenzin, and we got left behind, didn’t we? Far from perfect.”

“Well that’s not the same thing.”

“My point is, Lin, my dear, that there is no such thing as a perfect family, or a perfect person. Everybody breaks, one way or another, sometime or another. Su might  _ appear _ to have it all under control, but it’s always an illusion. And when something goes wrong, the illusion’s shattered. She’s having a hard time with the breaking of her illusions.”

“But all that stuff… it’s been a long time now. Republic City is rebuilt, and the Earth Republics are… improving. From what I can sense, Zaofu’s almost all rebuilt too, though it’s different. You should have seen the domes.”

“You know, sometimes…” Kya paused to think. “Sometimes a stressful situation can cause an actual illness. Maybe it’s taking her so long to get over it because there’s something physically out of balance in her. There are some herbs we could try. I know at least one that might help improve her mood.”

“You think?”

“Well, if she doesn’t try to kill me again, yeah.”

Lin growled. 

Kya pulled Lin over, so that Lin’s head was in her lap. Lin stretched out on the lawn as Kya stroked her hair, softly. 

“It’s crazy. You managed to block that stone she threw at me.”

“I don’t know how to explain it,” Lin said. “I just… sort of saw it. Felt it. Knew it, maybe. I guess this is how Mom can see.”

“Would you… would you be okay if we weren’t able to fix it?”

“I’d miss seeing your face, but I’d be okay. I remember your eyes, and your smile.”

Kya bent and kissed her.

* * *

Dinner wasn’t fun.

Suyin refused to come out of her room, and Bataar was torn between trying to make things up with Kya and attending to his wife, excusing himself every few minutes to go check on her. Opal and her brothers attempted to be light-hearted, and catch up with each other on their goings-on during the past year, but every time Suyin was mentioned, their faces would change with sadness and concern, and they fell silent.

Kya’s discomfort was only obvious to Lin, who could feel the way her heart was beating, and how she was breathing, and the coolness of her skin. She wasn’t aware that she was reading Kya this way. All she knew was that Kya’s light laughter and buoyant attitude were a front for her real feelings.

The chef brought them some of Zaofu’s specialties, including some cucumberquat salad and grilled brook trout from the river outside the city. Given the mood in the room, he seemed unusually cheerful, and promised a delicious dessert. There was wine to spare.

“I like that guy,” she commented behind her hand to Lin.

“He used to be a pirate,” Lin explained.

“If this is what Suyin meant by helping people reach their highest potential, then she really nailed it with this one.”

“There’s something funny going on, though,” Lin whispered. “He’s pretty jolly, considering everything.”

“Maybe he’s just trying to help.”

“It feels strange. Not forced, but, like he’s really, really happy about something.”

“Is that a bad thing?”

“No,” Lin said, “but my gut is telling me something’s up.”

Lin’s gut was right. Moments after being served the delicious dessert, a trifle with fresh berries and nuts covered with cream, there was the sound of an explosion in the distance, and a second or two later, the vibration of a shock wave that rattled their wineglasses.

Huan looked at his brothers in shock. “Now?”

Wing replied, “Good a time as any.”

“Let’s go,” Wei said. “You go take care of Mom and Dad.”

“Hey!” Opal yelled, but was up and out of her seat, following her brothers as they sprinted out of the room.

Kya and Lin were baffled.

“Shouldn’t we go too?” Kya asked.

“Just one minute,” Lin said. “This dessert really is delicious.”

* * *

When Kya and Lin did finally make it outside, the head of the guards was reporting to Bataar. His sons were nowhere to be seen.

“Where did everyone go?” Lin asked.

“Huan took Suyin to a safe place. I met him on the way out. The twins and Opal are heading out to the site of the explosion. A detachment patrolling the woods on the far side of the valley reported a person there who did not respond to their request for identification. They tried to take the person into custody, but evidently they weren’t cooperative, and as Captain Huei tells me, earthbent the entire detachment and the ground they were on about forty feet into the air before dropping them.”

Lin nearly bent double laughing.

“What the hell is so funny?” Bataar demanded.

“It’s Mom, you dunderhead!”

“Well why didn’t she identify herself?”

Lin started laughing again. Kya caught on.

“Because if Lin is blind, and Su is deaf, then Toph is probably dumb,” Kya said, with a grin.


	11. Who Can You Trust?

A wide street of cobblestones. The afternoon sun, spilling gold. A small crowd gathering. Overhead, bridges to the upper levels of Omashu, chutes with deliveries sliding down. On some of the bridges, passers-by took notice and peered down from above.

Korra stepped out of the bar and shielded her eyes from the sun. Somewhere out here was the guard who’d challenged her, but who’d also left a White Lotus tile on the bar next to her. It couldn’t be a coincidence. He had to be a member of the Order, and if he were, then he was a friend. But he was also with a group of other guards, and while he might be a friend, it was unlikely that the rest of them were. There was a good chance that he was there secretly, as he hadn’t announced himself.

That meant that she still had to fight him, to keep his cover. Having been trained throughout her youth by White Lotus, that meant that he wouldn’t go easy on her. She’d really have to defeat him to get out of this without being taken into custody. If she lost, she was sure he would take care of her, but it would be really bad for the political situation for a member of the trade delegation to be arrested; it might be worse politically if it were discovered that the Avatar was arrested; and it might be worse yet if she made the people think it was easy to defeat the Avatar at all.

So she had to win against him.

That said, she really didn’t want to use the Avatar state to fight. It was one thing to spout fire or spin up a windstorm to intimidate a dirtbag like she had this morning on the lowest level of the city. It was quite another to use that advantage in a duel to which she’d been challenged. It felt like a matter of honor: one element, one on one.

She was dressed as a waterbender, so it might be best for her to stick with her native element. She had an advantage there, as the bending of water came to her so naturally. Every form from every style she’d mastered, including Pro Bending waterbending, which she was pretty sure nobody in Omashu had ever seen. Well, except for this guy.

Down the wide street, the tall man with the long beard was laughing, perhaps at some rude comment from one of his guard buddies.

She hoped he was still a friend, now that she thought about it.

“How about we get on with this?” she yelled, the sound echoing down the quiet street.

“Impatient, aren’t you?” Tall Man said, and strode forward a few paces toward her.

She looked around for a source of water. None was obvious. “I need water, if we’re going to fight fair,” she called.

“Fair? What’s that?” Tall Man laughed, and kicked up a boulder the size of Korra, and sent it sailing her way.

She rolled to the side, easily dodging the hit, hearing it smash on the street behind her.

“You’re cleaning that up,” she said.

Another pair of melon-sized stones whizzed past her ears, on either side of her head, and she dropped and rolled forward. But Korra didn’t hear the crash, so she leapt instantly from her crouch far off to the right, to avoid a return shot from the back. She nearly tripped on the curb on the streetside, when she noticed the rain grate.

Perfect.

She stood again, and called out. “I should have expected you to play dirty. Earthbenders… dirt… get it?” And then she laughed.

The guard advanced toward her a couple of steps, and retrieved the two melon-sized stones. Mushing them together into a disc, he sent it whirling toward her in a curving arc.

Daintily she leapt over it again, glad that she’d had that beer. She was relaxed and refreshed and could jump out of his way all day. Kind of an airbender tactic, really, but as long as she didn’t use air, it was still above board.

Her feet touched down lightly, but then the street beneath her rolled like logs on water, and she stumbled, landing heavily, the wind knocked out of her.

“Come on, little girl! I told you it wasn’t safe for you here!”

Korra rose quickly, touching her chin and seeing the spot of blood on her fingertips. It was just a scrape. “Maybe not,” she said. “I guess I’ll just have to be careful. Can’t trust the guards here, I heard.”

The crowd gasped slightly at this affront. Tall Man’s buddies frowned and shuffled a step forward, but he gestured them back, sweeping his hands behind him.

He spun and a sheet of pebbles came up from the street, and he twisted his hands to bring them about vertically into a curtain, which he sent her way. This time she dodged to the far left, feeling the sting of a handful strike her calf, leaving marks on her leather boots.

He advanced further as she rolled and sat up. She paused a moment, reaching out with her qi to determine how she best could strike.

Standing, she squared her feet solidly on the cobblestones. “Okay, keep going. I’m still here,” Korra taunted.

Tall Man strode forward. “How are you going to defeat me, little girl? You haven’t touched me yet.”

She watched him carefully, eyes just barely looking at the grate on the curb. Soon he would be in alignment.

Shaking off the stinging in her leg and on her chin, she did a backflip, and landed a few steps further back.

“Are you going to bore me to defeat?”

_A little more,_ she thought.

He stopped short, and her shoulders slumped. Leave it to a White Lotus to make this not easy. Brightly, she ran right up to him, and booped him on the nose.

“There,” she said, “I touched you.”

Tall Man frowned. Korra spun away from him like she was dancing, spinning in circles.

He kicked up two more large stones, and sent one and then the other after her, putting a spin on them, so that their hard edges were whirling.

Korra, young, strong, and flexible, ducked and leapt over them like a gymnast. She even touched the tip of her toes on the second as she passed over it.

Tall Man took two steps forward, and crouched into a horse stance.

_There._

When both of Korra’s feet landed solidly on the ground, she sank low, and then sprung up, lifting her hands high as she reached skyward. All the water in the sewer below the street exploded upward, bursting through the pipes and cobblestones, throwing Tall Man back nearly to his comrades, and spattering the tidy shops and the bar front with an aromatic, wet mess.

“Ah! There’s the water!” she said, cheerfully.

As the squad of guards rushed toward her, she drew another Satomobile-sized glob of sewage up and splashed them with it. They skidded in the slippery, stinking wastewater, and fell in all directions, sprawling. Then, gesturing her hands rapidly down and outward, the liquid in the muck froze solid, securing them to the street.

“You’re lucky it’s warm today,” she said, as she stepped over them. “That sun will melt you out lickety-split.”

Continuing on, she came to Tall Man, just now recovering his senses from the hard landing she’d given him. She bent low and whispered. “I’m staying at the palace with the trade delegation.”

The crowd of onlookers were silent as she went to a staircase and climbed it, calmly heading up the streets toward the palace.

* * *

“The first thing we have to figure out is how to get you someplace safe,” Asami said.

“Where can I go? I can’t trust anybody!” Queen Daiyu cried.

“Maybe nowhere. But I think we can make it look like you disappeared. That by itself ought to show us where the guards’ loyalties lie. So if we can get back to my room, we can work on a disguise for you.”

“I can’t be seen going to your room, can I?”

“Well, no. So is there any other way out of this place?”

“There are three doors to the throne room. You came in that one,” the girl pointed behind Asami, to the large main doors, “and one on each side behind us. The left one leads to the ballroom, and the other to my chambers.”

“Are both guarded?”

“They should be, yes. But I think if we go to the ballroom, that would be the best way for both of us to leave at the same time. Then we can figure out how to get to the guest rooms.”

Asami was encouraged that the young queen was starting to take part in the planning of her own rescue. This girl had more courage than she knew herself.

“Does anyone else know about you and Xin Ling?” Asami asked, carefully.

“I don’t think so. Maybe? I don’t know.”

“How did he come to your room that night? I mean… how did the guards not see him?”

“There’s a bath attached to my chambers, and a hallway on the floor above there. He goes into the hallway, and when no one’s around, he bends open the floor and climbs down. But we can’t get to there from here. When he… when he comes to see me, he…” She paused, her face crinkling with pain. He’d left her here, to figure all this out on her own.

Asami took her hand. “It’s all right. We’ll worry about that later. I think I know exactly how we can get you out now.”

“How? There’s no door. He had to bend the floor open! I don’t know any benders I can trust. You’re not an earthbender, are you?”

“No. But I have a friend...she happens to be the Avatar.”

Daiyu’s eyes went wide. “You’re friends with the Avatar?”

“Very good friends, actually,” Asami smiled. _Better than friends,_ she thought, wistfully. It had been a more than a week since they’d been able to sleep together, and she was kicking herself for not thinking of having Korra bend a door into her own room.

“So here’s what we’ll do. You’ll go back into your chambers. Let the guards see you. Avatar Korra and I will find you a disguise, and after dinner we’ll come to meet you there, through the bath.”

“I don’t know how to thank you, Miss Sato.”  
  
“Asami. Just call me Asami.”

“Asami.”

The queen stood, and went back to her throne. She was about the same height and weight as Korra, though not as muscular. Asami sighed. _Not now. Focus._

“Okay…so here’s what’s going to happen.”

* * *

Asami heard a faint knock on the door to her room, and was there in two seconds to throw it open. Korra was startled, but even more so when Asami seized her wrist and yanked her inside, nearly slamming it shut again, when she remembered the guard at the end of the hallway would be suspicious. She caught it at the last second, and gently pushed it closed.

“I’m glad to see you too!” Korra laughed.

“What happened?” Asami asked, instantly noticing the scrape on her chin and her dusty clothes. “Are you all right?”

“A little tussle I got into,” she said, and then, very quietly, “with a guy I think is with the White Lotus.” And then louder, “Nothing a little water won’t take care of.”

Asami’s eyes went wide, but she nodded. “They’ll be expecting us for dinner in just a few minutes, so we don’t have much time. We need to get the queen out of here. Her aunts were just the beginning, and she thinks one or more of the ministers is about to stage a coup. She doesn’t know which of the guards she can trust.”

“That explains the White Lotus,” Korra said. “They’d have somebody here watching for that kind of thing. Do you have a plan?”

“Yeah. After dinner, we’re going to get into her chambers and switch out her clothes with a servant’s. Then she can get out without being noticed.”

“How? All the doors in the whole palace are guarded.”

“Bending a hole through the floor.”

Korra smacked her forehead. “Why didn’t I think of that the first night?!”

“You have to go. I’ll be out in a few minutes. After dinner, bend your way into here and we’ll get things ready.”

“I can’t wait until we–”

Asami resisted the urge to kiss her then and there. “You have to. Go!”

Korra turned and went out, and saw the guard at the end of the hallway just beginning to come towards the room. She smiled and ducked as she passed him. She hated sneaking; it would be so much easier to just announce that the queen was leaving with the delegation, and just let them try to stop her… but that never worked. If there was anything Korra struggled with, it was waiting to act. But she trusted Asami. If Asami had a plan, it was a good plan, and everything that would happen after would be much, much easier.

But oh, if she could just spend an hour with her, alone, behind a closed door! The memory of her lips, her eyes, her hair, her skin… UGH. Korra loved Asami like she couldn’t have believed was possible, but making love to her was better than...well, anything. Like they were on the edge of becoming one, completely united.

Which made this week-plus of nights alone all that much harder.

Still, this could be fun, executing this plan to rescue a young girl from a terrible fate. She wondered what the details were.

* * *

Korra waited for Asami near the door, so that they could enter the dining room together. This past week they’d been able to be near each other a great deal, but never quite alone. There were guards everywhere, silent and watching. Also, there was the delegation itself, with businessmen from Republic City, all cooperating so that they could compete later. Varrick and Zhu Li were there too, because without Varrick Global Industries involved, many deals could hardly be struck.

He was good for some entertainment, telling wild stories of his inventions and escapades, but Asami knew better than to trust him further than she could throw him. Granted, Asami could probably throw him further than most people, but that didn’t say much for his trustworthiness.

The queen had insisted that the trade delegation, the ministers, and she all dine together, nominally to keep an eye on the “hostages”, but also to keep them as witnesses, to protect herself. The ministers could hardly decline without disrupting negotiations.

The dinners were pleasant, a nightly reception; it must have been a challenge for the kitchen staff to come up with new dishes to impress their guests. Wine flowed, and a special liqueur made only in their city, sweetened with genemite rock candy. There was music and conversation, but there was an understanding there that it was all for show; that the delegates were still prisoners, and that at any moment something could change the situation. Anything was possible, up to civil war.

As time wore on, it was clear there was a strain on everyone. The ministers were fretting about the cost of keeping hostages in such style; the hostages just wanted to go home to their families. The queen… what did she want, Korra wondered? Asami had said the queen’s life was in danger. The girl—and she was just a girl, a kid, really—probably wanted what she herself wanted at that age, when she’d first come to Republic City: friends, fun, maybe a boyfriend.

Funny how things worked out. She smiled. Asami wasn’t anything she’d expected, but everything she needed.

And of course, the queen had her sympathy. Like Korra, she had responsibilities and threats far greater than anyone that age should have to handle. She’d help make things work out for Daiyu.

Asami arrived, finally, looking perfect, as always. If it weren’t for the pair of guards at either side of the door to the dining room, she would have swept her up in a deep kiss. As it was, she took her hand, with her crooked I-dare-you-to-say-anything smile, and stood as the guards pushed the heavy doors open.

Inside, there were only a handful of very agitated ministers. There was the sound of running feet, as suddenly guards were on the move, and the two at the door seemed confused.

The queen was there, as well, looking lost and worried.

Korra and Asami rushed to her. “What’s going on?” Korra asked.

“I don’t know!” the queen said, on the verge of tears. She called out, “Ren Chong!”

The minister who had escorted Asami to her throne room earlier in the day appeared in front of her, his face a mask. “Your Majesty?”

“Where are the people from Republic City? Why are my guards rushing about?”

“It appears, your Majesty, that they have… escaped?”

Asami and Korra looked at each other for a moment, and then at the Queen, whose eyes were pleading. They bolted for the door.

“He wouldn’t, would he?” Korra asked.

Asami knew exactly what she meant. “Of course he would.”

They saw a squadron of guards heading toward where the airship was held, and followed them. Guards were gathering in a crowd on the balcony near the wall of the palace, watching the airship full of Republic City trade delegates drifting smoothly and quietly away.

“I’m going to kick Varrick’s behind from here to Ba Sing Se, and Zhu Li… ugh! Why didn’t she stop him?” Korra groaned.

“Nobody can stop Varrick when his mind’s made up,” Asami sighed. “We’re on our own. And the queen… we better get back to the dining room _right now.”_

  



	12. The Indirect Route

Bataar was a sputtering mess.

“Oh, put your shoulders back down,” Lin said, still laughing. “She’s not even here yet and you’re already freaked out about it.”

“I am not!” he protested, but he put his shoulders down anyway. His mother-in-law did make him nervous, though he had never been a direct target of one of her barbs. He’d been there when Toph and Suyin had reconciled, but that conversation between them had been difficult at first, when old hurt feelings had to be aired.

“How do you know, anyway? She might not be mute,” he said, irritated. “You’re just guessing.”

“I’m a detective. It’s my job to be good at guessing.”

“I’m going to go see what they’ve done with Su,” he grumbled, and went off back inside the apartment. 

Kya and Lin were left alone together. The sun had set behind the mountains during dinner, and now stars were visible overhead. There was a chill in the air, and they strolled around the outer ring of the buildings where the domes had once been. 

“Can you see the moon?” Lin asked.

“Not yet. It’s not up over the eastern ridge.”

“I never paid much attention to it until you came along.”

Kya smiled, and slipped her hand into Lin’s, entwining their fingers. “Your attention was always needed back here on the ground, I guess,” she said.

“It’s not important to earthbenders, really.”

“But it is to waterbenders.”

“Yeah. So now I pay more attention to it.”

“Hmm.” Kya mused. “Any particular reason?”

“No-o,” Lin said, on a rising note. “Nothing particular.”

They continued walking. 

“The full moon isn’t for another three or four days, is it?” Lin asked.

Kya chuckled. “No. You’re right.”

They moved on, the fragrance of spring flowers from a darkened courtyard filling the air. 

“Your bending is stronger during the full moon.”

“Everyone knows that, Lin,” Kya laughed. “Are you trying to tell me something?”

If it were not dark, and the moon were higher, Kya might have seen Lin blush. 

“Sometimes…” Lin began. She cleared her throat.. “Um. Well. Sometimes… I can tell. You’ve been… um. Experimenting?”

A mischievous smirk crossed Kya’s lips. “Ohhhh….”

“I’m looking forward to the full moon.” Lin said, failing to be casual.

“I am too, now,” Kya replied, and paused. She turned to face Lin, and leaned in close, whispering in her ear. “Now that I know what you mean.”

The warmth of Kya’s breath and the nearness of her voice raised goosebumps on Lin’s arms. A flush went through her, that marvelous, familiar excitement in her stomach, the warmth inside her growing.

“It has been a while, hasn’t it?” Kya said, teasing.

“Too long,” Lin sighed. “More than a week.”

“I don’t know how you can bear it,” Kya said, her voice low. She stepped closer, so that there was hardly a space between them. “Let’s go back and—”

“Ma’am?” A guard called. Rapid clicking of metal-soled shoes approached.

Lin sighed and Kya groaned softly.

“Ma’am,” the guard said, as he came near. “Toph Beifong has arrived, and the family has requested that you join them.”

“Thank you,” Lin said, curtly, unable to disguise her vexation. The guard hurried away.

“Soon,” Kya promised.

They went back, unhurriedly, enjoying the fresh air and the quiet, hardly remembering that this was the reason they were here, to determine the cause and possible solutions to having lost their abilities. 

Inside, Lin felt the presence of her mother; she seemed larger than in her visual memory. Opal, Wing and Wei were there, as well. Bataar and Su were not.

“Hi Mom!” Lin said, brightly. “How are you?”

As Lin had guessed, there was no sound, except for something like a gasp and a croak. Toph was indeed mute.

“Believe it or not, I’m not going to take what would normally be a golden opportunity to say a few things,” Lin continued, with a laugh. “Did they tell you I can’t see?”

She sensed her mother’s nod. She crossed the room and sat next to her on the long sofa. “Mom. It’s good to be with you again.” 

She heard Kya chuckle.

“She’s scowling, isn’t she?” Lin said, her voice full of mirth.

“She’s her daughter’s mother, apparently,” Kya said.

Opal interjected, “Is there anything you can do, Kya?”

“I can only try,” Kya said, “but Lin’s vision is blocked by something I don’t understand and can’t affect. If it’s related, it’ll be the same result.”

A bowl of water was brought in by one of the staff, and Kya began. Lifting it from the bowl, she applied it to Toph’s mouth and throat. Toph jumped slightly at the touch of the cool liquid surrounding her. Kya moved through healing forms, her qi searching, looking for blockages, trying her best to clear them.

Eventually, however, and with a look of disappointment, she put the water back into the bowl.

“It didn’t work, did it?” Lin asked.

She could feel her mother shake her head.

“I guess it won’t work with Suyin, either, then,” Lin remarked. 

“Did it just happen all of a sudden, Grandma? Do you know why this is going on?” Opal asked.

Toph sighed heavily, her shoulders slumping. She nodded.

“How will she be able to tell us what happened?” Wing wondered.

The family were silent, as they racked their brains trying to find a way that Toph could communicate with them besides shaking her head yes and no. It was too hard to guess what it might be.

Bataar returned to the room then, slowing his pace as he entered the silent group. He looked around.  “Where’s Su? And Huan?”

“They’re not with you?” Opal asked, surprised.

“No. I assumed they came back here when everything calmed down.”

“Do you know where they went?” Lin asked.

“No. Huan just said he was taking her someplace safe.”

“I’m sure they’re all right,” Wei said, quietly.

“Yes, of course,” Bataar responded, but his forehead remained creased with worry.

Lin felt Toph adjust her position. Something about what Wei had said seemed just a little off, somehow.

“Do  _ you  _ know?” Lin asked, her face turned to Wei.

“Who? Me?” Wei said, startled. “No! We could go look for them, if you’re worried.”

Lin knew he was lying.

* * *

 

This series of caves was new to Su. She thought she’d explored every inch of the valley she called home, and yet this was totally new to her. At first they went through the military tunnels that Kuvira’s forces had made when she’d caged her husband and family over a lava pit, but Huan moved the stone aside to reveal a passageway, utterly lightless, that she didn’t know existed. It wound down, and he led her by hand through the absolute darkness.

She asked, “Where are you taking me?” but realized without light there was no good way for him to answer her. She was now blind as well as deaf, and without the touch of her son’s hand, she was completely lost.

After a short distance, the passageway resumed an upward slope, and they climbed stairs for a minute or two, entering a wider cave, natural, with glittering stalactites. There were torches.

She couldn’t recall this one, though many years ago they had explored several. If it did not have ores, like the titanium they’d mined, the surveyors left natural caves untouched.

“Where is this?” she asked, again, when she could see Huan’s face. His jaw was set, determined. Suyin was baffled. He’d insisted that he take her to safety, when everyone felt the explosion, and though usually she was the first to join the fray, she acceded to his demand. Her heart was too heavy and she was too frightened to go.

Lin’s words had been like a slap to the face. Lin was right; she couldn’t control herself, and it was best that she be out of the way. Su’s face grew hot remembering the boulder she flung at Kya. The little spat they’d had twenty-odd years ago was ridiculous, long since forgotten, until she saw Kya’s face again. She was embarrassed back then, and acted like a fool, and that embarrassment was revived and intensified.

And how the hell did Lin stop the boulder, if she were really blind? She’d mastered the seismic sense as Mom had, already? In just days? How was that possible?

Huan led her to a space between the stalactites and stalagmites that had an even, soft dirt floor. There were a rough bed and table, a lit lamp, and what appeared to be a stove. A trickle of water flowed into a small pool that had been fashioned from the surrounding stone, pure and cold. Huan had her sit at the table, and dipped a kettle into the pool, setting it on the stove. On a ledge there was a container of tea and some cups. He brought that to the table.

In only a few minutes, the teakettle was steaming, and he brewed the tea for her while she watched, mystified.

He pulled out the pad he’d been carrying since Su had lost her hearing.

_ Mom, I’ve got someone I need you to meet. I’ll be back in a little while. _

“What do you mean!?” she shouted, angrily. “Did you plan all this? What’s going on?”

He shook his head.  _ No, _ he wrote. _ I took advantage of the moment. Sometimes it’s too hard to get you to listen to us. Now you have to. _

This had an eerie familiarity with the notes she’d found on her desk and on the serving tray. 

“Were you the one who wrote me those notes?”

Huan looked away, and then back, directly into her eyes. “No.” he mouthed. _ But the person I am bringing did, _ he wrote.

_ Why the secrecy?  _ she wrote back.  _ You could have just talked to me any time. _

_ You still aren’t listening, Mom. We’ve tried, but you’re distracted, or depressed, or busy, or angry. Nobody wanted to upset you. And this isn’t easy. You’re not going to like some of what she’ll have to say. _

“She?” Su said, pained.

_ Wait here. Have some tea. Try to be calm. _

He turned toward the place where they came in, and she stood to follow him.

“You can’t keep me here.” she said, archly.

Huan looked at his mother with sadness. He nodded, and bolted for the passageway. 

Without his touch, she wouldn’t be able to find her way through the dark passage. She had to wait. She fell back into the seat, and sobbed. 

* * *

“What do you know?” Lin pressed, her voice gruff. She stood and folded her arms. “Where’s your mother?”

Toph stood up too. She folded her arms, as well, and if it weren’t for the seriousness of the moment, Kya would have blurted out a laugh. Mother and daughter, made of the same tough stuff, standing exactly alike, though one was short and the other tall.

Wei shrugged. “I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

Wing nudged him with his elbow. “Forget it, Wei. They’re truthseers. Like Aiwei, but… better. Or worse.”

“Damn right I’m worse,” Lin growled. “Why would you lie about this?”

“Huan just needs some time alone with Mom. This is the perfect chance,” Wing said. “We’ve got some stuff we’ve got to work out, and we’ve never had things line up like this.”

Bataar looked at his sons with dismay. “Where did you take her? Why?”

“Look, Dad,” Wei said, his palms down, urging calm. “She’s in the safest place we could think of. Huan’s with her. We’re not… staging a coup. It’s nothing like that.”

Wing nodded. “We’re doing this… it’s like a favor to Mom. But you know how she is, Dad. Nobody is ever able to say no to her.”

“What on earth are you talking about?” Bataar cried, pulling his hands through his hair so that it stood up straight. “Say no to her about what?”

“Succession.” Opal said, when it dawned on her what they meant.

Wei stood straight, and squared himself to look his father in the eye. “Look, Dad. Remember what we said when Mom first lost her hearing? It’s a chance for people to step up. Right now, Huan is going to introduce Mom to a person who… uh...”

Wing took over. “If Mom wasn’t going to let other people start making decisions about the future of Zaofu, this person was going to force the issue.”

“So you knew about a rebel group? Here? She’s an insurrectionist?”

“No, Dad, not exactly. She’s a...thinker. She’s got some plans, and great ideas. But she’s not going to fight anybody.”

Finally Bataar had to sit, overwhelmed. Opal sat by him and put a consoling hand on his shoulder.

“Why didn’t anybody just come to us? You could have just said something. I don’t understand.”

“Dad, Mom hasn’t been really very receptive to new ideas when it comes to ‘her’ city these past couple of years, has she?” Wing said.

“And nobody has ever really been able to say no to Mom. Look what happened to Junior.” Wei finished.

“Well that was different!”

“It was,” Opal said, “and it wasn’t. Junior was there to support Kuvira, the same way you support Mom. He just chose the wrong side. Not that I can forgive what Kuvira did… “ she shot a look to the twins, “or that I’m not really upset that not all of us were included in the discussion. But I get it.” 

“You could have come to me,” Bataar said, weakly. “You didn’t trust me?”

The twins looked guiltily at each other and at Opal. Finally, Wei cleared his throat. “We’re really sorry, Dad. It was all kind of… theoretical… until recently.”

Wing said, “Mom losing her hearing really put a lot of things in motion. Sook was nearly ready to make a move when it happened. It’s changed the situation, but now there’s a chance to have something great happen.”

“Who is Sook? I’ve never heard of her! How do you know her?”

The young men looked sheepishly at each other. “Huan wants to introduce her himself,” Wing said.

Kya and Lin had listened, fascinated, to the whole exchange. Finally Toph could stand no more, and she stood up and stamped her foot so that the room shook. 

“Grandma!” Wei called out. “We were never going to let her be hurt!”

Lin knew that the twins were telling the truth now, and while their father was bowled over, she knew her sister well enough to realize why they had gone around him. Bataar would never have said no to Suyin either. He supported her completely, sometimes to a fault. If they’d told him, he’d have made them tell her. 

“Let’s leave that to Huan, then,” Lin said, decisively. “Suyin is safe, and that’s good enough for now. We still need to hear from your grandmother what she knows about all of this.”

“I’ve got it!” Opal cried. “Huan!”

“What about him?” Kya asked.

“Sculpture! Let’s have Grandma show us what happened by bending a sculpture of it!” Excitedly, she turned to Toph. “Remember how you used to make those sand pictures on the shore of the river? You did one of all of Zaofu, with all the people and animals in it! Those were amazing! I know you can show us what happened that way!”

Toph’s scowl eased.


	13. Long Live the Queen

Back in the palace dining room, Asami and Korra saw a knot of people surrounding and bent over someone on the floor. Leading from the crowd was a trail of blood.

Asami’s heart hit her stomach. The queen was nowhere to be seen.

“Water!” Korra roared, and dived into the crowd, shoving bystanders aside.

On the ground was an old minister with a long, twisted grey beard, with cuts on his palms and a wound gushing from his left side. She pressed the wound with her palms, and shouted it again. “Water! Get me some water!”

A servant rushed to one of the tables and carried back two crystal goblets of water, which Korra bent and applied to the deepest wound. The liquid glowed with Korra’s healing qi, but it swirled pink as the blood mixed with it. Soon the minister’s body relaxed and his breathing slowed, though it was shallow. 

As Korra worked to save the old minister, Asami turned to a guard standing near the door. “The queen!” she cried. “Where is she? Who’s got her?”

The guard looked almost pleased as he shrugged. “Who cares?”

Asami kicked the guard squarely in the gut, and as he doubled over in pain, she brought her knee into his chin. He rolled onto the floor, his mouth bleeding. The guard at the other side of the door look startled, but only for a moment, and then rushed her. She ducked and swept his feet out from under him with an extended leg, and then spun a second pass to catch him in the cheek with her boot on his way down.

“Korra! The guards!”

Korra turned to the bystanders, and her eyes lit briefly. Using the multiplied voice of the Avatar, she said, “Take care of him.” The people shrank back, terrified.

She leapt over to Asami. 

“The guards aren’t loyal. We need to find her.”

Korra knelt and from her a jagged bolt of searching light appeared to her mind. Down a long twisting staircase, down to the lowest levels of the city. As she followed it, the band of light narrowed. Queen Daiyu was hurt and fading.

Without a word she seized Asami by the waist and rode the air to a window, blasting through it and taking part of the wall surrounding it. They fell a distance, Korra’s feet pointing downward, and then were caught by a wall of air just before hitting a chute. They landed, and then she had Asami get a better position, climbing on her back. Korra again flung the two of them over the side of the chute, free-falling nearly to the bottom. Again, air cushioned their descent, and she landed on her feet on the cobblestones not far from the plaza where the young earthbenders had been playing their game. It was evening, there was no one to witness them, and the evening sun’s light was faint this far down.

“Where now?” Asami asked, getting back on her own feet.

“They’re down there,” Korra said, pointing at a wall, which was the side of the mountain itself. She braced herself to blast the wall open.

“Wait!” Asami cried. “We need to be careful. The attacker was armed, and they may finish the queen off if we just go exploding in!”

“She’s already weak,” Korra replied, anxious to keep moving.

“Then blast… quietly!” Asami pleaded.

Korra breathed, and as gently as was possible with earthbending, opened a door in the side of the mountain. She stepped inside into a darkened stairway curling inward.

“Let’s go!”

Korra firebent a flame the size of a candle, just enough light to see the steps without alerting anyone higher up that they were there. They paused to listen, and could hear a shuffling and gentle thudding. Someone below them was going down the stairs. They followed, Asami noting with horror the specks of blood staining the stairs, barely visible in the gloom.

As silently as they could manage, they descended, hearing the someone pause, and the click of a key. A squeak indicated a door opening, and the shuffling sound resumed. They hastened their pursuit, but heard the door close and click just as it came into range of the tiny flame. The door was heavy and wooden, with iron bars and lock.

“They don’t metalbend in Omashu,” Asami pointed out.

Korra liquefied the lock with a gesture of her fingers. Peering through the hole, she saw a body on the floor next to a small oil lamp, and a woman bent, hands on knees, breathing hard,. The effort of dragging the young queen down the stairs had tired her.

Korra looked at Asami, mouthed “one, two, three”, and yanked the door off its hinges, the iron pulling the heavy wood away from the frame. Asami leapt over her and hit the woman with the heel of her palm on her chin, flinging her backward. The woman struggled to rise, but Korra was ready, the iron from the door now fluid in her hand. Korra tossed the quivering lump at her, and she was bound hand and foot. The weight of the iron pulled her back down onto the floor, and she lay there, panting.

Asami knelt by Daiyu, who was unconscious. There was a wound on her throat, not large, but blood was flowing at an alarming rate.

Korra looked at her gravely, and made a decision. “Asami, don’t tell anybody, okay?”

Asami’s eyebrows rose, but she nodded.

Korra moved her hands, and the wound stopped flowing. She took on an intense expression, as she held the small gash closed with bloodbending.

She grunted. “Hurry. I’ll hold it in place until you get some water so I can close the wound.”

Asami did not hesitate, but sprinted out the shattered door frame and back up the stairwell. 

The sound of her own pulse was in Korra’s ears, from the fight, but also from fear. She did not want to lose this battle, but it was so delicate, holding the artery shut with bloodbending. The fineness of this bending was not what she was used to. Avatars fought big, not small.

And it was strange, feeling the energy flow from her into the young girl. Katara had warned her about bloodbending, and what a violation of another creature it was to enter them and control their very bodies. She recalled how Amon had used his energy that way, to enter her own body and block all her bending, and how dreadful that had made her and hundreds of others feel.

Logically, it was the right thing to do. It was to save a life, not to take it, nor to force another to do one’s will. And yet, the world looked on bloodbenders as the worst criminals. It was a universal and complete ban, without reserve.

Kya had bloodbent Lin in a drugged haze, not so long ago, but Lin refused to speak of it, even at the trial. There was an agreement among all who’d been there that no one would mention it. Mako was torn between telling the truth in his report and protecting a friend, but in the end he had only written that Kya had used waterbending on her. 

The woman lying behind her coughed. She was recovering from her efforts.

“Who are you?”

“The Avatar,” Korra replied, not turning.

There was silence, as the minutes stretched long, and she wished desperately that Asami would return soon. She was aching from the tension in her body as she concentrated on staying absolutely still, but keeping her energy extended into Queen Daiyu’s body. 

There was a sound of light footsteps as Asami returned, carrying a broken vase half filled with fetid water.

“I’m sorry,” she explained. “I couldn’t find anything, and all the houses were locked up. I had to dig through garbage to find this.”

“It’s all right, it’s all right,” Korra responded, softly, trying to stay focused. “Go put pressure on the wound. I have to clean the water up a little.”

Asami knelt by the young woman, putting her fingers tightly against the cut. She looked up at Korra when she thought she was ready.

Korra dropped her stance, and shook herself a moment. Drawing up the water out of the pottery, she carefully moved her hands apart, separating the water from the muck and debris, flinging it aside. She did this three times, until the water was clear.

“I hope that’s clean enough.” Then the Avatar moved the water over to the injury, surrounding Daiyu’s throat and Asami’s hands. In the darkened cell, the light from Korra’s healing qi lit everything with its blue glow. She moved through forms learned from Katara, grateful for having learned from the best, and the wound wove itself together neatly. 

Asami shuddered. “It’s wriggling,” she said. “Ew!”

But the wound was healed, and when she took her hands away, Queen Daiyu’s throat was whole once again, though her gown was soaked with blood. Now they had a chance to better examine her, and Asami brushed her long hair aside tenderly. The poor girl deserved none of this.

“I don’t see any other cuts. Just bruises from being dragged down the stairs.” Korra leaned back and sat on her heels. She closed her eyes and sighed deeply.

“That was hard.”

Asami looked at her with love. “I know. But you saved her. You’re… amazing.”

“You might as well kill me. I’m as good as dead anyway,” the woman behind Korra said.

“We don’t execute people anymore,” Korra said. “Omashu won’t be doing that any longer, either.” 

“Once you leave, the Queen will have me crushed. If she ever gets Xin Ling back, he’ll be crushed too.”

Asami looked at Korra and shook her head.

“I’m the Avatar. Remember? No. That won’t happen.”

The woman turned her face away. 

“You’ll be tried for attempted murder, and you’ll be in prison, but no.”

The woman said nothing.

“Why?” Asami asked. Korra could see the shine of tears by the lamplight.

Korra filled in Asami’s question. “Why did you try to kill the queen?”

“Will it reduce my sentence if I tell you?”

“That’s not up to me,” Korra shrugged.

The woman sunk into herself. “Forget it,” she grunted.

“Did Xin Ling kill the other ministers?” 

At this Asami put a hand on Korra’s wrist, and shook her head. Korra’s eyebrows lifted in surprise. She remembered that Asami hadn’t had a chance to give her the details.

She sighed again. “Well, now what?”

Asami looked down at the girl, still stroking her hair gently. “She’s lost a lot of blood. I’m not sure we should go anywhere just yet. And maybe this will work in our favor. We needed to get Daiyu away from the court so that she’d be out of danger, and we could see who’s angling to take the throne. So maybe it’s best if we go back and pretend that we couldn’t find her. We could take the robe, and show them the blood. If she’s presumed dead, anybody who was waiting to make their move might do it then.”

“Who’s going to take care of her in the meantime?” Korra wondered. She cast her eyes behind her at the shackled woman. “And what do we do with her?”

“Did you say there’s a White Lotus member here?”

“I assume he’s White Lotus… I need to find out for sure. Maybe he can put the two of them in a safe house somewhere until things sort themselves out.”

“I’ll stay here,” Asami volunteered. “We’ll be all right here for a while, until the lamp goes. We’re going to need lots of water, and some kind of food, aren’t we?”

“Keep her warm, if you can,” Korra advised. “I don’t exactly know...well…” She took off the pelt she wore around her waist. “Use this, and whatever else you can find. I’ll do my best to be back fast.”

She rose on her knees, and stretched forward to receive a quick kiss from Asami. Then Korra stood and headed for the exit. She turned to look at Asami one more time, and saw her gazing with eyes of compassion and concern for the pale young lady. Breathtaking beauty, and a heart of the purest gold. Sometimes she could scarcely believe that Asami loved her too.

Korra bounded lightly up the stairs, two and three at a jump, until she came to the entrance she’d bent open. She stepped through, looking side to side for any observers. There were none. She turned and sealed the hole again, seamlessly, with only a slight scraping sound.

How on earth was she going to find the White Lotus? Where were off-duty guards stationed? If the creep she’d dealt with in the morning was any indication, he might have a home to go to, and where could that possibly be?  

Maybe the best thing was to find the necessary… wait! She could take the Queen to the woman with the baby… no… there was the little girl there. She’d never keep a secret. And the young boy who’d recited the lines about corruption… that was her brother, wasn’t it? Or cousin? 

If nothing else, maybe she could borrow a blanket and some food and water from the woman, if she could talk to her alone. It would be much easier to ask for the things she needed from the poorer folk of Omashu; no matter where in the world she traveled, the most generous people were always those who had the least themselves.

This plan was better than nothing. In the morning she might be able to go back up to the part of the city where she’d dueled Tall Man; that bar was certainly on his patrol.

Inside there was a nagging fear that even while she was making these arrangements, the ministers were not sleeping, but rather negotiating throughout the night to settle the affairs of state. By morning one of them might easily have established himself as the new King. She had to take care of the Queen, but wished she could listen in on their bargaining and wrangling, for any clue as to who was behind the attempt on her life, and who would benefit most from her death.

Another fear that lingered on the edge of her thought was that there was no way of knowing just how much blood Queen Daiyu had lost. She was unconscious. That was bad.

Carefully Korra kept in the shadows, trying to orient herself to this place, which appeared completely different in the night. The lower levels of the city were dark, the light of the sky and stars obscured by a basket-weave of bridges and streets overhead. There were no street lights, and many windows were covered. 

Finally she came to the corner where stood the small house of the woman with the baby. There was light seeping out from the edges of a curtain in the window, a rough opening in the stone of the structure. She stepped carefully toward the house, and carefully lifted a corner of the curtain. 

Inside, the woman seemed to be dozing in a rocking chair, her young daughter playing with a doll by the hearth. At a long table was the boy who’d dodged her ball this morning. He seemed to be studying by lamplight. The man whom she’d flung into the street was nowhere to be seen, which was just as well.

She tapped gently on the door, and held her breath.

In a moment, the door was opened, and the young boy stood in its frame, his eyes registering the shock of seeing Korra again. He opened his mouth to yell, but she clapped a hand over it, and pushed him back inside. By now his mother was up, not understanding what was happening. 

“Please, I need your help,” Korra blurted, in a low voice.

The boy struggled to get away, but she kept him held tight.

“Shin, stop,” the woman said. “She’s not here to hurt us.”   


The boy stopped struggling, and Korra reluctantly let him go, and he went to stand behind his mother.

“She’s not from Omashu,” Shin grumbled.

“The Queen is in danger,” Korra said, hurriedly. “There’s been an assassination attempt. My friend and I have her safe, but she’s lost a lot of blood.” 

Shin’s mother’s expression was startled, but her son’s frown changed to a smug expression. “Good. She doesn’t follow the traditions.”

“Look,” Korra said, irritated. “I’m the Avatar. You think not following some stupid tradition is going to upset the spirits? I am the bridge between the human world and the spirit world. What’s happening isn’t spirit magic; it’s ignorance. You’re being played for a sucker.”

“She’s just a girl!” the boy said angrily. 

“So is your mother,” Korra said. She was done with his attitude. 

She paused, and let her eyes glow briefly as she entered the Avatar state. “And I too am a woman, as have been many of the avatars before me. Kyoshi was a warrior, an Avatar, and a woman.”   


Shin shrank behind his mother in fear of this display of power. The little girl at the hearth looked at her in wonder.

“Avatar, how can we help you?” his mother asked.

Korra relaxed and became herself again. “I need some supplies. A blanket, some water, something to eat, and some oil for a lamp. Can you lend me some?”

She bowed, baby in her arms. “We are at your service.”

The girl ran to get a blanket from her little bed. “Here! Use mine!”

Korra smiled and accepted the generous offer.

The woman gave her an earthenware jug of water, a smaller one filled with oil, and a loaf of hard bread. “It’s what we have,” she apologized.

“It’s enough, and the queen will thank you.”

The woman’s eyes grew wide at this idea, and the young boy watched her carefully.

“Thank you,” Korra said. “I’ll be back when things get smoothed out. I promise.”

She ducked back out into the inky night of the street, and hurried back to the queen and Asami. And the other woman… who was she? Why did she try to kill the queen?

Asami was deeply relieved to hear Korra’s light footsteps as she descended the stone stairs. Daiyu was still unconscious, but she had shifted, as though asleep. 

Korra put all the things down and spread the blanket over her, and she curled into the warmth of the covering. Asami stood and stretched her legs. Gesturing for her to follow, she went out just past the doorframe, where she could still see the queen, but not the assassin.

“Did she say anything?” Korra whispered.

“No. Not a peep.”

“I need to go back out. I’ve got to find the White Lotus guy.”

“How? It’s getting late.”

“I’m pretty sure with all the stuff going on, there are lots of patrols, especially in the wealthier parts of town. I’ll go get myself arrested, and then--”

“Are you nuts? Arrested?”

“He’s a guard captain. The fastest way to find him is by having the guards bring me right to him.”

Asami frowned, but nodded. “You’ll be safe?”

Korra grinned. “I’m the--”

“Avatar. Yes. You never get in trouble.”

Korra pulled Asami close, and kissed her, first as reassurance, but then deeper, as the days of waiting for that kiss seemed to pile upon them. Asami pressed her against the wall of the stairwell, hungry for more.

“I..we.. can’t…” Korra gasped, as Asami slid her hand down the front of Korra’s trousers.

Asami ignored this, and continued to seek inside the clothing for the warm dampness she knew was between Korra’s legs. Korra sagged, opening herself slightly to the long, slender fingers.

“Don’t you want it?” Asami breathed, huskily.

“Asami, please,” she whispered.

Asami laughed quietly. “Please yes, or please no?”

“Please,” was all Korra could manage, and Asami swallowed it with another kiss, her fingers slipping along the wet lips of Korra’s sex, circling the hardened bud.

Korra bit her lip, hard, fighting herself to keep from moaning, as Asami brought her rapidly to a peak. She tensed and raked her nails along Asami’s back as the climax hit, and then shook like there was an earthquake beneath her feet.

When the quake and the aftershocks were through, she leaned her head back against the wall and caught her breath.

“I guess that was a yes.”

“You just wait, Miss Sato,” Korra growled, but there was a glint in her eye, and her smile was wide. “You’ll get yours.”

“Promise? Now go get yourself arrested.”

They kissed again, happily, lovingly. Korra turned and rode an air scooter up the stairs.


	14. Good News

Kya spoke up. “Before you all get excited about this, maybe you should ask whether your grandmother might like something to eat? Or to rest? It’s kind of a long walk from the Swamp to here.”

Shamefaced, Bataar and Su’s children agreed, and Toph, with a slight look of surprise, nodded eagerly. Wing went off to the kitchen.  


Lin smiled. It was no surprise to her that Kya should care about someone’s needs first. All that concern that Katara couldn’t come would be replaced by gratitude that Kya had instead. Especially after the way Su had treated her.

The chef himself came in with a tray for Toph, and she stood and greeted him by grasping his forearm as he took hers, a hearty shake.

“Toph Beifong! Wonders never cease! Long time no see!” he laughed. “I’ve got a great stir fry for you! With those mushrooms you like!”

She grinned, and opened her mouth to speak, but nothing emerged. Then she scowled again, frustrated.

“Don’t you worry, little lady,” the chef said. “Things have been mighty strange here lately. But cheer up!” Then he bent and whispered something into her ear, and at first Toph looked astonished, but soon broke into an even bigger grin.

She sat down and dug into her meal, while the chef bounced away, humming a tune.

“What was that about?” Kya asked. “I mean, he was cheerful at dinner, but that’s just… jolly.”

Bataar said, “He has seemed unusually happy lately, hasn’t he? But I don’t think anyone has asked why.” 

The brothers shrugged. This time Lin was certain they didn’t know.

* * *

Suyin had fallen asleep at the table where she’d wept.

She awoke with a start, and looked around, confused. What was this place? A beautiful, natural cave, pillars formed across millennia, drops of water slowly building up until they touched in a fine filament. Beyond them, the cave walls glittered in the torchlight, aglow with reflections in countless crystals.

She sensed faintly the vibrations of people approaching. She turned to face them.

Huan was there, with a young woman. She was short, no taller than her mother Toph, and it appeared that she was disabled, with one shoulder higher than another, and walking with a limp. Her body, even in loose robes, seemed misshapen.

Taking up the paper, he wrote,  _ Mom, this is Sook. _

Huan turned to the woman, and made a series of gestures, moving his arms and rapidly making shapes with his fingers. She responded to him with movements of her own.

_ Sook was born deaf. She can teach you to communicate without words. _

_ Why like this, Huan? I don’t understand why you’re keeping me here in this cave! _

_ It was her idea. She wants your undivided attention. _

Defeated, Su slumped into her chair. “She can teach me to communicate?”

Sook moved her hands.  _ If you’re willing to learn, _ Huan wrote, translating for her.

Suyin Beifong pounded the table with both hands, again and again, the fury exploding in her. She could not see through the fresh wave of tears that filled her eyes.

When she finished, still sobbing, Sook pushed a paper in front of her.  _ When you’re done with your tantrum we can begin. _

Huan had vanished. She was alone in the cave with another deaf person. She searched the table for the pencil and paper, to write out an angry response, but then realized that Sook was holding the pad, and headed toward the stove. Before she could shout “No!”—which would have been unheeded anyway—Sook opened the door to the stove and tossed it into the fire.

Sook came back and sat with Su, her face neutral. Across from Suyin, she pointed at the table. Then she made a gesture: her palms facing down, she made her forearms horizontally parallel in front of her, right arm above left, and then moved the top arm down to touch the bottom all along its length. Table.

Frowning, Su imitated the gesture. Sook nodded.

Next, she pointed to the cup of tea that Su had let go cold. She curled her fingers, as though holding a glass, and placed it atop her open left palm. Cup.

Again, Suyin imitated, and Sook nodded.

Now, Sook took the imaginary vessel she’d made, and tossed it back. Drink.

These gestures were so obvious. She’d never considered how easy this might be. Suyin imitated this one too.

Sook made another imaginary cup with her left hand, pinched her thumb and index finger together, and pressed them into the hole formed by her palm. Then she moved it in a circle inside the hole.

Su was nonplussed. What could this mean? 

Her frown, now of concentration, indicated that she didn’t get this one right away. So Sook took the actual cup from the table, and pointed inside it at the cold brew. She drank it, and then, looking at Su dead in the eye, did the gesture for drink followed by the one Su hadn’t understood.

“Drink tea!” Su exclaimed. Now the fingers inside the “cup” made perfect sense… it was a simulation of steeping tea.

Sook nodded. Her teacher was still not smiling, but the tension in her face was easing somewhat. 

Suyin realized that while these gestures made sense, there was an entire language she would have to learn. How would she convey abstract concepts? How long would this take? Her stomach chilled.

And then too, she remembered, Sook was the one who’d written those notes.  _ Some of us have lost far more than that… Now that you can’t hear, you might just be able to listen. _

She felt the young woman’s hand on her chin, moving her face so that she was looking directly at her. Su’s gaze had drifted away as her thoughts took her. Sook’s expression was annoyed.

She blushed.  _ You might just be able to listen _ . It would be hard work, but Sook was going to teach her how to speak—and listen—once more.

* * *

Toph wondered how exactly to illustrate the ancient spirit in sculpture. Opal’s idea was pretty good, she had to admit… such smart grandkids she had… but it was going to be tough to demonstrate without words just what a ostrich-horse’s ass she’d been. And the spirit was, as far as Toph was concerned, a shapeless voice. She knew it had tried to scare her by growing in size. Maybe just showing a blob getting bigger and smaller might get it across.

But most of all, she really didn’t want to. The long and the short of it was that she had to admit this was all her fault.

It wasn’t a difficult journey to Zaofu from the Swamp, but it was all uphill, and she didn’t drive or hitch a ride, even if the roads had been safe, which they weren’t. She’d had to fight with bandits twice on the way. Naturally she knew they were coming, even at night, and she kicked their backsides without even trying, but it was always a little hard getting back to sleep after that kind of excitement. Leaving saving the world to the kids was what she said she was going to do, but boy, for all that technological advancement they bragged about, there were still a lot of old-fashioned creeps out there. 

She stretched out in the bath… Kya’s idea. Good kid, really, even if she was weird. Motherly like Katara, goofy like Twinkletoes. But just as good as Katara when it came to taking care of an aching back. A hot bath and a little waterbending healing and she was feeling as good now as she had in twenty years. 

And Lin was happy. Going blind was just what she needed, even if nobody else thought so. It seemed like this was what she was missing to get over that last hurdle to understanding seismic sense. Even truthseeing… that was impressive. Caught the boy red-handed. A good cop’s instincts, too.

Suyin. Well… if she understood what they were all saying, then not very much had changed about Su. Zaofu was a great city, and recovering nicely; but since she wasn’t at the center of everything, she wasn’t happy. But why had she been out of it? It was unlike her. 

She wished she knew what to say to Suyin, and then Toph laughed soundlessly, because there was no way to say it anyway, right now. Shit happens, she wanted to say. Get over it, she wanted to say. The domes? Just metal. Kuvira? Brat’s in jail where she belongs. Bataar Junior was a dumbass for sticking with her, too, but that’s how it went down. She still had the rest of her family. She still had the city.    
  
Going deaf… that was a strange way for the spirit to curse her. Herself, losing her speech? That made perfect sense. She’d mouthed off. Even Lin going blind… it was a way to teach her a lesson about … other ways…

...to see. Great leaping hogmonkeys.

Toph Beifong sat bolt upright in the bath. This is what the spirit had wanted all along. For her to find another way to communicate with her kids. To use some other sense she had. She’d been doing it wrong. But what could she do differently? What was it about reaching out through the vines that bugged that damned spirit anyway?

There was no way to know, and until she could get somebody to interpret for her, there was no way either to make nice with the spirit or ask it any questions.

She shivered in the warm water. What if she couldn’t speak anymore, ever? That would suck. Big time. Especially now, after what Chef Jung had told her. Good news, but he couldn’t have picked a better person to keep the secret.

Toph got up out of the bath and put on a simple nightgown for bed. More than she was used to, really, but Opal had insisted that her usual clothes needed a wash. Well, if nothing else, Su’s home was comfortable and the beds were soft. Maybe that would be enough to help her get some sleep. She certainly wasn’t looking forward to tomorrow morning, when she’d have to explain herself. Somehow.

* * *

Huan climbed the stairs back up to the city, his mind full. 

He loved his mother; but he loved Sook so much it was almost frightening. 

All his life he’d been free to explore his creative potential. That was Mom’s desire for everyone in Zaofu. It was great, but nobody had ever  _ challenged _ him before. 

Sook made him better. At everything.

Sook was hard; the Beifongs always claimed to be tough as the metal they bent. It sounded good, but was it really so hard to be tough when you had bending and good health? None of his family would have lasted a day in her body.

She’d been abandoned as a young child; but also taken in and loved. Chef Jung and his wife adopted her. He hadn’t wanted to be a pirate, but it was the best way to feed his family when she was young. Now that he was a chef for the Beifong family, he'd told her, he was free to follow his dreams, and she would be too. He'd invited her to join him there, but she resisted.  


She knew the worst of humanity, and its best. She’d known poverty, and survived it. Thrived at the University, and then homeless, when Ba Sing Se fell to the Red Lotus. Finally, after Kuvira destroyed the village where she’d taken refuge, Jung convinced Sook to stay with him in Zaofu, to keep him company and do what she could do for herself in comfort.

That forging was what made her so tough. Benders had it easy, she said, but they couldn’t do anything a regular person couldn’t with time and tools. Steel could be manipulated by a metalbender’s qi; with fire and effort, pounding and patience, it could also be manipulated by non-benders. All the hard times that had struck her made her will as strong as any steel. Her intellect was the sharp edge that she had honed.

Sook introduced herself to Huan through notes that Chef Jung tucked under his dinner plates. She penned critiques of his sculptures: unflinching when she found flaws, but also offering genuine praise when she felt it was deserved. She was the first who’d expressed an appreciation for some of his most experimental pieces. She guessed the titles of some, and offered suggestions for others, so spot-on that before he’d ever seen her face he felt she knew the shape of his soul.

He wrote her back, not long after, and their correspondence was intense, intellectual, and inspiring. It also grew affectionate, and then intimate.

The day they’d met in person Huan couldn’t take his eyes off her. Sook was braced for him to be cruel, but he pushed past her fear and simply  _ talked _ to her, asking questions, learning, teaching. Her beauty was real, and he found it in her eyes, and in her mind.

They’d communicated on paper after that, as well, but he was eager to learn to sign, and Jung and she conversed that way exclusively, so the more time he spent with them the faster he learned. He was fluent within months, spending every moment he wasn’t working on the reconstruction with her. 

She asked tough questions about Zaofu’s rebuilding, and he reworked features to make it possible for her to use some of the spaces without hindrance. Bataar’s asymmetrical, organic design for the new city buildings appealed to her, and she suggested many improvements to Huan, who in turn made them come to fruition. They were so intuitively useful that Bataar didn’t realize that Huan’s motive was making Zaofu a more welcoming place for her. Built in from the ground-up, they weren’t poor retrofits, but genuinely, thoughtfully accessible.

However, Sook was not interested solely in architecture or sculpture. She had ideas about everything. Unfortunately, she also had passionate opinions about Zaofu’s leadership.

She’d known all along that Huan was Suyin’s son, though she didn’t make the mistake of thinking he was just like her. When she first criticized the Great Matriarch, Huan was taken aback. He attempted to defend his mother, but Sook’s points were solid, and in the end he had to admit that she was right. Leadership by a single leader, no matter how benevolent, was susceptible to error. Huan’s mother was not at the top of her game since Kuvira had looted the city, and Sook knew it. She insisted that the people of the city could offer more and make it an even better place if they had a real voice in determining its directions. With Suyin unfocused by depression, she said, the place was virtually leaderless, coasting on its everyday functions. That would only last so long, eventually self-interest would take over, and the city would decline.

Huan offered to introduce her to his family, but Sook was reluctant. She felt self-conscious about her appearance and worried about the difficulty of communicating through him. For the first time he saw her as vulnerable; she had appeared so strong in her opinions and ideas that it never occurred to him that she might be painfully shy.

He didn’t press her, and they continued to see each other as often as possible. He was in love before he’d met her; as time went on he knew he’d spend his life with her. He laughed to himself, remembering. The woman who had started off calling him a spoiled poser was the woman he wanted to marry.

It was not until a couple of months ago that he’d introduced her to Wing and Wei. He couldn’t bear keeping her a secret any longer. She agreed to meet them first, after assurances that they wouldn’t mock her, and her trust in Huan was rewarded. The twins were cheerful and accepting; they teased Huan for keeping his girlfriend a secret, but she enjoyed their light-heartedness and devotion to their brother. With Huan’s help, they too learned to hold a conversation with her, and she convinced them about Zaofu’s path forward. Knowing that they were the likely successors of Zaofu’s leadership, she encouraged them to consider a more open future, and they agreed happily. Like Huan, they loved their mother, but they were different from her, too. The truth was that they were more interested in promoting a Power Disc league than running a city.  


Nearing the top of the tunnel back up to the city, Huan paused to catch his breath. He stepped through a doorway, and then into a closet, and then into the kitchen of the Beifong apartments. Chef Jung was relaxing, listening to a radio, and greeted him.

“Hey fella! Are you ready to bring them their dinner?”

“Yeah,” he said. “I’m worried that Sook will wear herself out.”

“She does that. Remind her. She doesn’t have to do this all on one night.”

“Mom will want to keep at it.”

“True… nobody’s as stubborn as Suyin Beifong, when she wants to have her way.”

Huan laughed. “An immovable object finally meets an irresistable force.” 

“That’s the truth!”

“But yeah, I’ll remind her that things are different now. She’s got to conserve her energy.”

“Come on,” Chef Jung replied, putting his arm around Huan’s shoulders. “Let me get you that basket.”

* * *

“Your family is exhausting,” Kya joked, as she lifted the sheets and slid into bed next to Lin.

Lin mumbled, sleepily, “Yours isn’t?”

“Yes, it definitely is.”

Lin didn’t respond, except by sighing heavily and shifting, and Kya curled up behind her, arm around her waist.

It had been an unbelievably long day, and they hadn’t been in a real bed for two nights before this. Neither of them was a teenager anymore.

It was only a couple of days until the full moon. Maybe a little anticipation was a good thing.

So was sleep. She closed her eyes, breathed deep, and, like Lin, was out for the night.


	15. Time to Think

Once Korra was out of sight, Asami finally had time to think about what the next step was. For the moment, the queen was safe, but that state wouldn't last very long down here in a stony room underneath Omashu. 

What was this room, anyway? Why was there a spiral staircase down to this place, all the way from the palace at the peak of the mountain? 

In the dim light of the oil lamp, she observed where they were. Dull yellow sandstone walls, the now-destroyed door. It was naturally windowless, but the ceiling was high. There was a ridge along the wall opposite the door, wide enough for a person; perhaps with a ladder, or earthbending, a person could stand up there. But why? There was no exit there. Of course, earthbenders didn't necessarily need doors. But it was a very secret place and secure against non-benders. 

She sat back down next to Daiyu, who continued sleeping, her breathing soft. Across from her lay the assassin, still bound. Eventually they'd have to find some way to deal with her, too; they couldn't just leave her bound like that, for days on end. 

Even just staying hidden for days on end didn't sound particularly appealing. Hopefully Korra would find the White Lotus member and get them all out of here soon. Damned Varrick, stealing the airship! It was, in a way, his fault, as the escape of the trade delegation was the spark that re-lit the fuse of unrest in the city. Would this woman have tried to kill the queen if they'd all showed up for dinner as before? 

But she was also jealous and angry. Damned Varrick, getting to go home, and abandoning the two of them there! No, Korra would have made them stay, given the situation. That was probably why Varrick hadn't told them about the plans. But it was so selfish! 

Asami just wanted to go home too, to make sure things at the factory were going well, all the projects around Republic City and everywhere still underway: she always tried to hire good people who didn't need to be micromanaged, but being away too long put a strain on everyone in the business. 

And she missed her home. Mako, Bolin, Opal… the airbender kids. All her friends. Lin and Kya and the girls at Kyoshi Island. The estate, with Korra there. The swimming pool, the patio and garden now that it was early spring. 

She shook her head. Thinking this way was going to put her into a funk, which was all too easy. Korra was here in Omashu with her, and they were doing something very important. Not just the trade deals, though that would clearly be of benefit to Omashu; but everything, saving the queen, bringing balance back to a city stuck in the past. She just had to be patient. 

Of course, she hadn't been patient just a few minutes ago, with Korra… the way that Korra had opened up to her, let her in, let her work a little magic of her own, and the way that Korra clung to her as Asami's touch made her lose control. She loved that, the way Korra trusted her, and how she was able to give her that pleasure and release. It was satisfying enough that she could wait now for her turn. 

Well, almost. She was warm, now, thinking about the two of them together, and Korra's promise, the smile in her eyes. Excitement of her own made her shift uncomfortably on the hard tile floor. 

Wait. Tiled floor? 

Asami turned her eyes to the irregularly-shaped tiles on the floor. She climbed to her feet and stood back a bit, to see what the pattern was. There were small squares, arranged in a grid, but even in the low light it looked like different colors. It might be a little hard to tell, but if she went to the corner… the floor was tiled in the shape of a pai sho table. 

King Bumi had been a member of the White Lotus. Maybe this room was where he held meetings? A century ago? 

She felt a needle of unease inside. If the assassin knew about a secret White Lotus meeting room, did the guy Korra was trying to find know about it too? Were they planning to meet here? 

It would be really awful if they’d followed this woman right into a trap. 

* * *

Ren Chong could hardly believe his luck. 

He knew that eventually he’d be king of Omashu. There were so many good ways to rid himself of the young queen. But to have it done for him, without his having to lift a finger, that was the best way. 

The murder of her aunts was unexpected, and at first seemed like he would have to prove his innocence. They knew him too well, those old hags, and they warned the young queen about his ambition. But it was the actual truth that he’d had nothing to do with it. He certainly wasn’t displeased with their dispatch. 

But then Xin Ling fled, which turned away all suspicion from himself, and he had played up the sympathetic, shocked minister. He was actually quite surprised that that worm had the nerve to do such a deed, in such a grisly way. It was rather curious, however, since Xin Ling really had no path to the throne. What would his motive be for removing the aunts? 

Now Daiyu was gone, most likely dead. Minister Ming had been gravely wounded but healed by the Avatar. That was the only thing that kept Ren Chong uneasy… the Avatar and that woman had chased the assassin, and hadn’t returned. If she was able to heal Ming, she might also be able to save the queen, though he’d heard that the amount of blood Daiyu lost was significant. 

Still, even if the Avatar didn’t save the queen, he’d have to be accommodating to her until she left. There wasn’t anything for which he could be blamed, at least not directly; and if he managed to earn the Avatar’s assent it would go a long way toward cooling the tensions in the city. 

There was also information that she’d dueled with Long Kuai, the old captain, and defeated him soundly. The reason for it was unclear; he’d challenged her, but it was unlike the tall earthbending master to pick a fight with a stranger, much less a woman. If Long Kuai didn’t know it was the Avatar he might have assumed a waterbender in Omashu was only here to cause trouble. 

He’d have to have a discussion with him very soon. It might well be time for the captain to retire. 

Ren Chong hoped, of course, that the trade deal wasn’t completely destroyed. It was the queen’s idea to hold them hostage until Xin Ling was extradited back to Omashu, so maybe now that she was gone, he could promise them stability. 

The airbenders wouldn’t return him until the death penalty was lifted, and of course he understood that; but that was an easy enough promise to make. There were just as many good ways to rid himself of a rival, however petty, as there were a queen. 

* * *

The airbenders were nothing but hospitable, but he was growing _so tired_ of staying on this island with them. No meat, no women, nothing to drink besides water and tea. How did anyone live like this? They were so boring! 

Xin Ling looked longingly at Republic City from the pier of Air Temple Island. Now _there_ was a place he’d love to visit. Pro-bending? How had Omashu missed out on that? How had Omashu missed out on so much great stuff? Radios? Movers? Wagons pulled by engines instead of ostrich horses? Electric lights? Fancy restaurants, bars with liquor, bars with girls… everything a grown man could want from life. 

Obviously, living as a minister in Omashu had its perks, of course: somebody else always did the heavy lifting. Even as a bender he hardly had to do anything strenuous, except make holes in the hallway to drop down into the queen’s own bedroom. He never wanted for anything to eat or drink, and the girls from the lowest level were pretty easy to nail if you gave them a gold piece. All his right by birth. 

But wow, Republic City looked so exciting! And he was stuck here, on Dull Island. Everybody meditating all the time, spiritual mumbo-jumbo. Yeah, there were spirits here, and he was definitely relieved that they were pretty harmless. That whole “offending the spirits” routine worked to get his way in Omashu, but there had always been a lingering fear that if the spirits honestly were going to get offended, he’d be in for some real trouble. But it never happened, and now that he’d seem some actual, live spirits, Xin Ling was confident he was in the clear. 

How on earth was he going to get back? Daiyu really messed everything up by inviting that trade delegation. Ming was out of his mind with worry about the spirits. If there was ever a true believer in the traditions, it was that guy. Ming confided in him that the queen needed to go, and he believed in Xin Ling; young and strong, faithful to the traditions. He’d have Ming’s support once she was out of the picture. Poor, old, senile Ming. 

But when her aunts were murdered, what was he supposed to do? The captain of the guard followed him everywhere! Xin Ling racked his brain to remember any time he might have been seen with Daiyu when he shouldn’t have been; obviously that morning, when the bodies were discovered, they came to her chambers to tell her, but he was hidden in the bathroom! And yeah, he was flustered… had he been seen leaving? That’s the only thing he could think of. If that captain had seen him in that hallway above, he might have thought he was on his way to get the queen too. He’d had to run. No choice. 

It did hurt that Daiyu had threatened him with the death penalty. She knew he was innocent, too. Maybe she wasn’t quite as naive as he’d thought. Just as well. He could have been king with or without her. It would have been great just to marry into the title, but if she'd given him trouble he'd have been able to put an end to that pretty easily. 

That was all fucked up now. The best he could hope for is that people believed his story, that he was targeted, and when she was gone, they’d let him come back, still a minister. And once he was freed from this tedious, windy rock, and things settled back in Omashu, they could all bet their last yuans that he was going to make the place as great as Republic City was. Traditions or no. 

But when would that be?

* * *

She lay on the hard tiled floor of the dark room, eyes closed. It had gone so very badly. 

Long Kuai had told her not to trust anybody. Did that also include the Avatar? And her friend? 

She didn’t want to kill Minister Ming. He was suffering dementia. But that knife! Who knew a man so old could move so quickly? He’d stabbed the queen before anyone noticed, and she had to keep the queen alive. That’s what Long Kuai wanted. Gone, but safe. 

She wanted to defend herself to the Avatar. She wasn’t a killer. But with Ming dead, she’d be crushed anyway. That was certain. It was the tradition to execute murderers by crushing. Xin Ling, that coward. He deserved to be crushed. He hadn’t murdered Daiyu’s aunts, but he might as well have. 

But if the Avatar were seeking out Long Kuai? 

“Miss?” she called, softly. 


	16. Wonders to Behold

Suyin and Huan resurfaced in the morning — literally, coming up from below the city. In the deepest part of the night, Lin felt them coming up stairs underneath the apartments, and sensed another person there. She was smaller, but there was something peculiar about her. It was difficult to read from a distance.

When breakfast time came, they appeared in the dining room. “Mom!” Opal called joyfully, running to embrace her again. The matriarch looked exhausted, but there was a smile playing on her lips that had been absent for far too long. Bataar, waiting up much of the night for them, was equally tired, but relieved.

They seated, cheerful and chatty, with Huan translating for Sook, who was at last introduced to his father and sister. Lin and Kya greeted the woman graciously; Lin still not quite understanding what it was she sensed about her. Huan told his family about her and the way they’d met. Opal’s eyes sparkled with the romance of the story. Wing and Wei rolled their eyes and teased Opal mercilessly.

Finally, Huan stood. “I have an announcement.”

They settled, expectantly.

Suddenly the young man was a shy, awkward boy again, but Sook squeezed his hand, and he stood straight. He looked at her, turned to her, and delivered his announcement, in voice and in sign.

“Sook and I want to be married.”

Opal squealed excitedly, and Bataar, dazed, shrugged and shook his son’s hand, drawing him into an embrace. Wing and Wei high-fived him. Chef Jung came in with a bottle of bubbly, and poured them drinks to celebrate.

Huan stopped him. “But there’s more…”

Chef Jung looked like he was about to burst a seam on his jacket, his chest was so puffed. 

“The Chef is Sook’s adoptive father, which means soon he will be my father-in-law. He may wish to continue as the head chef for the Beifong family, but he will be an actual part of the family. All the more so because… “ and then Huan’s voice started to quaver, “he’ll be our child’s grandfather.”

There was a moment of stunned silence, but then Wing and Wei gave a simultaneous whoop. Opal stood up and clapped her hands in delight. Aided by a puff of air, she literally flew to the other side of the table to hug Sook, whose smile was wide. This was a welcome she had not quite anticipated.

Lin could feel her sister Suyin trembling, but the energy was not one of anger or fear. Lin sighed, knowing that something that had been troubling her was now turned around. She decided to let go of her own anger at Su’s attack on Kya. It was in the past, and didn’t matter now.

And then she realized what it was about Sook that was so odd. Lin had sensed the child inside her, moving slightly. She was struck silent. This was something she never dreamed of feeling. It was so profound, so deep. She felt connected to this new young member of her family, privy to a knowledge she wasn’t sure she should have.  

She felt a chill. Was this how Pema had felt with Tenzin’s children? Had she passed up a chance at feeling this for herself? In herself?

Kya, for her part, took Lin’s hand, and held it. This was great news for any family. But the look on Lin’s face gave her pause.

“What is it?” she whispered. “Are you worried about Sook delivering a baby? If they want me here I’ll be here.”

“No, no, that’s not it,” Lin whispered back. “It’s… we’ll… let’s talk about it later.”

“Are you sure? Are you okay?”

“It’s… I have something I want to talk about. But not here. Not now.” Lin breathed deep. “I’m very, very happy for them. Su is happy too. I can feel it.”

Lin sensed Kya’s concern, so she raised the hand that held hers and kissed it. “You’re so generous, and caring,” she said. “Sook will be in no safer hands than yours when she delivers.”

* * *

Afraid of nothing. Except embarrassment.

And it was the whole damn family here, waiting, watching.

So Toph straightened herself on the edge of the powerdisc field. She had them stand back, focused her energy, and began building the shapes of that part of the Swamp where she’d been living, molding the sand into models of the trees and roots and the path between her abode and the spring where the spirit had been. 

“Is that where you live, Grandma?” Wing asked.

She nodded. At least that was clear enough. She made a copy of her bucket, and picked it up, and walked through the nearly full-scale replica of the Swamp towards the spring.

When she got to the space, she mimed dipping the bucket in the water.

“You were getting water,” Opal said.

Toph nodded again. Now the hard part. She threw her hands up, as though in surprise, and made a face.

There was a laugh from Suyin. Her cheeks flushed, but she continued. She dropped the bucket, and from the earth where she’d made the spring, she drew up a blob of dirt, and made it wiggle and waver in the air in front of her.

There was a confused silence, though she could hear them shifting and shuffling, trying to make out what she was showing them.

She made the blob swirl around her, coming close, as the spirit had done.

“Anybody got any ideas?” Wei asked.

“A waterspout?” Bataar offered.

Toph shook her head. She pushed the blob back, and enlarged it, until it was an enormous dust cloud. She wasn’t sure if it was accurate, but she decided to give it big arms with scary claws to wave.

“A monster!” Opal cried.

Toph shook her head again. She wiggled it around again, and made it swirl like a kite. 

“A vision!” Kya called out. “I mean, she does live in the Swamp. People have visions there.”

Toph gave her a smile. She was grateful that Twinkletoes’ daughter was able to think outside the box. But then she put her finger and thumb near each other.

“No, but close,” Opal said. “What’s close to a vision?”

“If it’s not a vision...” Lin said, after some thought, “Mom, you saw a spirit?”

Toph sighed. Yes, she nodded.

Everyone spoke at once, confused and concerned. What did this mean?

Lin was frowning. She put a palm up. “Hey, just a minute! Mom… what did you  _ do _ ?”

Toph scowled now, too, her shoulders slumped. Lin was on to her, and she’d just learned last night that Lin was a truthseer as well. There was no getting around this.

But how to explain it? What had she done?

She pointed to her mouth and opened and closed it, like talking. 

“Eating?” Wing guessed.

No. She shook her head again. She turned her hand toward her face, flapping the fingers and thumb together, to indicate talking.

“You ate the spirit’s turtleduck?” Bataar asked, mystified. There were giggles, but Toph scowled at him so harshly she could feel him cringe.

Toph thought hard. How did you gesture that you were told something? She pointed at her ears, and then pulled her hands away from them, pointing outward. She went back and forth this way a few times.

She heard Sook laugh, a throaty sound, and in a moment Huan translated her sign for everyone. “You ignored the spirit?”

Toph’s eyebrows went up. She nodded gravely.

“The motion she just made is the sign for ‘ignore’,” Huan explained.

Well, it wasn’t exactly what she was trying to say, but Sook had put it all together for everyone, so Toph was relieved so much had been conveyed. 

“Mom!” both Lin and Suyin groaned, as the realization hit them what this might mean.

“What did the spirit want?” Kya asked.

Toph bent the soil into the shape of her favorite root, and climbed onto it. When she’d settled in place, she pointed repeatedly to Lin and Suyin, and then back to herself.

They were all perplexed.

She tried again. She put her hand on the bump, pointed at her head, her eyes and ears, and then to Suyin and Lin.

“She watches you from the Swamp,” Kya reminded Lin.

“So it had to do with how you watch us from your home?” Opal asked. “Don’t you just feel for the vibrations through the vines?”

Opal was partly right. But the spirit had objected to how she’d done it, which must have meant using her qi to reach out. But how would she be able to sense them, otherwise? She nodded but also shrugged, her hands out in an I-don’t-know gesture.

Toph pinched her right cheek absently, as she tried to decide how to explain.

Sook laughed again. 

“What’s so funny?” Opal asked. “Is she making a sign?”

“Rude,” Huan giggled.

Lin sighed heavily, and asked, in a pained voice, “You were rude to the swamp spirit?”

Toph blushed hotly. She was busted. That sign wasn’t even on purpose!

She crossed her arms, stomped her foot and the entire recreated scene fell flat into the earth, becoming the playing field once again. She turned her back on them.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Lin said.

When this had been relayed in writing to Suyin, she said, “So we just go and apologize? We ask the spirit to give us back our senses?” She signed the words she knew as she spoke.  

“In the absence of any other plan, I suppose so,” Lin agreed. “How she’s going to say she’s sorry…  _ and mean it… _ ” She said this louder, for her mother’s benefit, “...is going to be fun to figure out.”

* * *

Sook was climbing high in Suyin’s estimation. She recognized immediately how much Huan cared about her; down in the cave when he’d brought them dinner, he treated her with great tenderness and watching them speak to each other with only their hands seemed like a complex dance. She was fascinated.

Into the night she taught Su how to speak with her hands, opening up a new world of communication for her. Once Huan had returned with dinner, the learning accelerated as he wrote down words that were more abstract. He explained the symbols for how to spell their names and numbers, and Su soaked it up. Sook drilled her on vocabulary and form, and was firm in correction but quick with a smile when Suyin got it right.

There was no way to learn an entire language overnight, even if they’d been able to stay awake, and now that she knew that Sook was pregnant, she understood Huan’s desire to get her to rest. She saw a reflection of herself in the eyes of the younger woman; that sparkle of intelligence and an indomitable will. How could she not like Sook?

Certainly, it was a surprise that Huan had announced their engagement at breakfast, and a shock that he would be a father and she and Bataar…  _ well, let’s not be too hasty,  _ she told herself.  _ We won’t use that particular word until the time comes. _ Even so, she was pleased and proud. Huan had shown so much maturity lately, and to find that it was such a strong woman he loved? She couldn’t be happier for him. 

Her heart had felt lighter than it had in ages. Really, since Junior had turned his back on her. She felt like her family was growing and thriving again.

But there was still a conversation to be had. Sook’s original notes had talked about the people of Zaofu, what they’d lost, and her not listening. She needed to resolve this question. What had she missed, all that time she was so depressed? What was it Sook wanted?

That could come later, maybe at dinner. Maybe tomorrow. 

But tomorrow? Would they be leaving for the Swamp? It would have been funny if the spirit’s curse hadn’t included Lin and herself. Mom was just being Mom, and while mouthing off to a spirit wasn’t a good idea, at least for Toph Beifong it was completely in character.   


But the reason her mother had been rude to the spirit had something to do with how she watched Lin and her family from her home, by reading the vibrations through the spirit vines. What was wrong there? What had the spirit said? Did it warrant this kind of curse?

Part of that might have been her own fault, she thought. All this time, her mother was close enough for the occasional visit in person, but she’d been so wrapped up in her own problems she didn’t bother. Communication, she was relearning, goes in two directions. Perhaps she did deserve her punishment.

What had Lin done to earn her affliction? It was hard to say… she hadn’t had a chance to talk to her sister at any length since she’d arrived. At least Lin was handling it well. Better than well… she’d learned truthseeing, and was as able to sense movement in her blindness as Mom had ever been. It was hardly an affliction at all. Perversely, Lin was actually benefiting from this loss of vision. Still, over time she might miss being able to see. She would still want her sight back. 

Suyin herself longed to hear again. Sook would teach her to communicate in sign, and there was something beautiful in the silence that she was only now beginning to grasp, but if she had the choice? She would miss the music. The sound of her family’s voices. She was prepared for the loss to be permanent, but she hoped for the best.

Kya. Oh, spirits. She had to apologize to Kya. She’d lost control of herself and tried to hurt her. What would have happened if Lin hadn’t been there? She winced. She shouldn’t have treated her so poorly half a lifetime ago, and now that Kya returned, trying to help her, she responded this way? Su had to make this right.

After Toph was finished showing everyone what happened, Su told her family that she’d be taking a nap before lunch. Sook had been exhausted from the long day and night of intense instruction, and Su had to admit she was too. There was just too much to process.

She lay now in bed, the midday sunlight glowing around the edges of thick curtains over the bedroom windows. Bataar snoring gently next to her. She couldn’t hear him, but it didn’t matter, since he’d snored next to her for decades now. She knew. She touched his shoulder gently. Dear, sweet, constant Bataar. Everything might be all right after all.

* * *

It was right to let Lin spend time with her family, as much as she wanted, but for Kya, a few hours away became necessary. She’d said she wanted to meditate this afternoon, but the truth was she just needed some space. 

It was hard to believe that it was only yesterday that Suyin had thrown a boulder at her. She’d told Lin to let it go, knowing Su’s anger was a symptom of serious depression. She wasn’t joking, saying Lin’s family was exhausting; her own had been too. The stress sometimes made her yearn for traveling again. As soon as it wasn’t fun to be somewhere, it was time to go. That’s how she’d lived a lot of her life. Lin’s love was a gentle tether; she wasn’t going to leave, but the longing for the road was definitely there. 

She wondered what it was they were going to talk about later. Something had shaken Lin, but as long as they talked it through, she was sure it would be all right. Maybe it was how Su had brightened up so quickly. Kya wanted to recommend treatments for depression just the same, to ensure that she did not slip back into those dark moods.

Kya strolled through a the neighborhoods of Zaofu, noting clean and thriving businesses selling all manner of fine goods, from clothing to tools to toys. She found a clever mechanical panda that was just right for Rohan, her little nephew. Of course that meant that she had to find trinkets for all Tenzin’s children, but that wasn’t too hard - a top that threw sparks for Meelo, a small knife with a porcelain handle painted with flowers for Ikki, and a book of poetry for Jinora. 

Kya hadn’t seen Zaofu at its pinnacle, before Kuvira; she’d only ever seen the spires and domes in photographs and drawings. She wandered on, into areas that appeared to be new, if only because they deviated from the symmetrical, shining forms in those photos. At breakfast, after the hubbub of meeting Sook and the announcements of marriage and pregnancy, Huan and Bataar described the new design for the city to them. Lin sensed the structures, through vibrations, but couldn’t know how perfect the colors were. The shapes of archways and the curvature of streets might well have been pathways made by wind and water, from old-growth trees and centuries of passing animals. And yet the path was smooth, easy and wide.

Almost without noticing it, she found herself at the edge of the city, near the bridge at its southernmost part; this was one of the bridges whose footings she’d helped with herself, holding the water back as the earthbenders lifted and shaped the stone, arching it upward. Its clean lines bespoke the human ingenuity of the original Zaofu.

Kya realized then that all the curves and twists of the path had allowed her to descend down to the river without once having to take stairs. It was all easily defensible, with strong walls and no direct march inward, but it was beautiful. Sook’s influence was plain, once she understood it. Access in and out was just as simple for Sook as any citizen, but intelligently taking into consideration the need for the city to be secure. And Huan had made it look wonderful.

From this vantage point, she turned and looked back and up at the city as a whole. Some of it was still the original Zaofu, straight and tall, and it blended into the new city as though having been created from it, or was melting into it. It was a wonder to behold. 

A shadow passed over her, and she turned to see what caused it. There was an airship overhead. Future Industries. Asami was in Zaofu? Was the trade delegation freed from Omashu? Best to find out what had happened. Kya hurried back up the path. Lin might need her soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took a while. Life had been intruding on my fun for quite a little too long now.


	17. How Families Work

Kya joined Lin atop the platform where the airship was docked, but it took a few moments for her to understand what was going on. 

Varrick looked tense and unhappy. Zhu Li stood with arms crossed, nose up, her lips white from being so tightly pursed. There was a crowd of businessmen and their wives bunched together at the doorway to the elevator down to Zaofu, looking at the edge of the high tower with trepidation. 

The guards at the airship dock would normally have allowed the guests to enter the city, having showed their credentials, but Zhu Li had demanded to see the Lady Beifong, and blocked the door to the elevator with her body, refusing to let anyone enter the city until the Matriarch were to come up to meet with her. Lin volunteered to talk to her instead, and Zhu Li was negotiating with her to see Suyin.

“Sending troops to Omashu is not going to help the situation there. There has to be a political solution.”

“People are going to die, Chief Beifong. We have to do something!”

“Kya and I know the queen. We can try to assist.”

“Berry blossom, please! Let’s just go back to Republic City. See? Lin can handle this!” Varrick complained.

Lin pierced Varrick with a look. “I thought you were the head of the trade delegation. Couldn’t you have worked something out with them? You were representing the United Republics. Couldn’t you have used that famous negotiating power of yours to get them to sign a treaty or something?”

“We were held as hostages, Chief Beifong,” Varrick replied archly. “Once the murderer fled the city all negotiations were off. We weren’t in a position to drive hard bargains.”

Lin knew there was far more than Varrick wasn’t saying. It was likely that he’d made individual arrangements to sell mecha to many of the ministers, as well as the queen, to cover his bases. If she had to guess, peacemaking was less lucrative than arms dealing. But he really wasn’t responsible for solving Omashu’s internal problems, since it was only a trade delegation. She briefly wondered if Zhu Li knew about those arms deals.

“Where’s Asami? Or Korra?”

Zhu Li shot a dirty look to Varrick, and then said, “She and the Avatar are still there there to monitor the situation.”

“Really?  _ You’re _ going to hide things from me too?” Lin responded, disdainfully. 

Zhu Li’s face reddened, and Varrick huffed.

He was spurred to defend his wife.. He stepped forward and put his arm around her. “They’re able to take care of themselves. It was more important to get these people…” he gestured to the other business leaders on the platform “...these  _ important _ people back to safety.”

“You left Korra and Asami there,” Lin said, flatly.

Zhu Li shrugged off Varrick’s arm. “Chief Beifong, you have to understand, there was a narrow window of opportunity for us to get the airship away. We didn’t know where they were, but we had to make a break for it. As soon as we were launched I headed straight here to ask for Zaofu to send peacekeepers.”

“‘I?’ What about Varrick?”

Zhu Li looked at her husband coldly. “He wanted to go straight home.”

“I wanted to protect you, Zhu Li!”  _ At least that’s the truth, _ Lin thought.

“And what about Asami? Korra?”

“I don’t care about them—I care about you!”

Zhu Li snorted indignantly.

“I don’t mean I don’t care, but...you know they can handle themselves. She’s the Avatar! She’ll get it straightened out!”

“It’s civil war, Varrick! They’re alone in that city and the place is descending into chaos!” She turned, appealing to Lin again. “Just a few peacekeeping soldiers, to stop the fighting! They don’t know about metalbending in Omashu. Zaofu could keep the city quiet with just a few people! Korra may be the Avatar, but she’s still just one person. She’s got Asami, but she needs us too!”

“I can’t tell anyone here what to do, but I know Suyin won’t be eager to send metalbenders into their conflict,” Lin said, uneasily. “She’s still trying to recover from Kuvira’s attack on this city.”

“Then I need to speak to her directly,” Zhu Li insisted, her chin up.

* * *

She hadn’t had this dream in a long, long time.

It was full of noises and sensations. Representations of the people she knew formed in her mind in that kind of seeing she’d always been able to do. Even the spirit in the spring had a shape in her mind, with its creepy voice, and it threatened her now.  _ You will be taught a lesson, and you will be made to fear, _ it said.

And then she was running, too slowly, Sokka’s hand wrapped around hers. The feel of the metal airship beneath her feet, hot wind blowing on her skin from the massive fires below. There was that sickening tearing noise as the airship came apart, and the sensation of falling, and the jerk when Sokka’s grip caught her. 

_ My leg!  _ he cried, and then,  _ Hang on Toph! _

_ Aye aye, Captain,  _ she answered. How much more should she have said? Should she have told him?

_ Bye, Space Sword, _ she heard him say, sadly. But he still had her hand. 

And then the terror of feeling her fingers slipping from his. Her heart was pounding, the air was almost unbreatheably hot.

_ I don't think Boomerang is coming back, Toph.  _

Once again the tears welled up in her sightless eyes.

_ It looks like this is the end. _

And then she fell, again, in this dream, and felt the bang of her body on the ship Suki had sailed in to save them.

But she kept falling, right through, landing in frigid water. Once again terror filled her as the Serpent swirled about, the currents making her clothing flap and cling around her so weirdly, and she was being pulled under the swells, unable to see where she was. 

Then she felt her body lifting, and the sharp air as her face burst through the surface of the water, a strong arm around her.

_ Oh, Sokka, you saved me!  _ She kissed him, but it wasn’t him, and when the voice echoed in her mind,  _ It’s me, Suki, _ she felt the embarrassment and disappointment as keen as the day it had happened.

In her dream, Suki did as she had half-joked on that day, to go ahead and let her drown. She felt herself sinking into a great cold...

...and then she was awake, sitting up in a cold sweat.

_ To learn fear.  _ She’d known fear, facing death countless times. 

She failed to tell Sokka, even after Suki had left him in Republic City. She failed to tell him that night they got drunk together, or when they woke up in each other’s arms. She ought to have told him then, but sobered up she didn’t have the courage. Fear of death was nothing compared to the fear of saying she loved him, if he didn’t feel the same. So she didn’t say it at all.

She lay back down on the soft bed in Suyin’s home, safe and comfortable. Even so, her heart was aching the same way it had on that morning long ago, that year before Suyin was born. Sokka had asked what they were now, and the only thing she could say was, “Let’s just stay friends,” because she feared he wouldn’t agree to more. 

So many years gone by. Her own parents long gone. A great-grandchild on the way. And all this time the words “I love you” still stuck in her throat. Did she have to  _ say _ the words for Lin and Su? Didn’t they just  _ know _ ? 

And because of her overreaction at the spirit’s criticism of the way she watched them, she  _ couldn’t _ tell them she loved them. That thin thread that kept her connected to them was severed.

She had to go back to the Swamp. She had to get her voice back. Without it, she’d never be able to tell them, and dying without getting it said was the thing she feared the most. When the Red Lotus killed Sokka, it was a part of her that died too.

She couldn’t do that to her girls. She had to go back to the Swamp. She’d learned the spirit’s lesson.

* * *

“Lin is right,” Suyin spoke and signed. “The solution has to be political.”

The frightened businessmen and their wives were relaxing in the ballroom, served drinks to calm their nerves. Zhu Li had consented to follow Lin to speak with the Matriarch and get her opinion on sending peacekeepers. An impromptu cocktail hour was arranged, and they gathered at a table to discuss what came next. Varrick pouted near the bar.

“But… what about the violence happening  _ right now? _ Does no one care about the people there?” Zhu Li insisted.

“Hold on,” Su said, when Bataar had handed her the transcript of Zhu Li’s words. “I didn’t say that we didn’t care. When Kuvira told me I should take control of the Earth Kingdom, it was a completely different matter, and I didn’t feel like I should put myself in the position as leader of all the earthbending territories. This isn’t that situation.

“I believe that we should send a few people. Maybe I should go myself, since I admit I’ve neglected maintaining a relationship with such a close neighbor. Troops, guards… that would send the wrong message. But if, as you say, they have no metalbenders in Omashu, then we can go there as diplomats, with the intent of brokering a peace deal, and still have the security to protect ourselves and innocent people there. Avatar Korra would certainly be able to handle some of the situation, but we know that we all work best when we work together, wouldn’t you agree?”

Su noticed Sook’s raised eyebrow.

“What’s your thought?” she asked. 

“I agree that we should go to Omashu. They can certainly use our help to settle their differences, and it’s important we establish ties with them.”

“We? Are you planning to come along?”

Sook returned her gaze unflinchingly. “Have you been to Omashu recently?”

“No,” Suyin gestured, while her brows descended. “Have you?”

“It’s a very backwards city. People like me don’t stand a chance there.”

“So… you’re not coming.”

“When I say ‘we’ in this context, I mean the People of Zaofu.”

“What are you saying?”

“This is an opportunity to demonstrate to Omashu, and to the rest of the world, that Zaofu is as progressive as it has ever been. Tell me, what was the secret to Zaofu’s success?”

“We are a family,” Su said defensively. “That’s always been our strength.”

“Until Kuvira left the family. No, wait… first it was Aiwei.”

Su glowered. “That’s not fair. We came together when each of them betrayed us.”

“It’s perfectly fair, because it happened.” Sook shrugged. “But consider Aiwei, first of all. He joined the Red Lotus, a group dedicated to freedom through anarchy. Am I right?”

“Yes,” Su said bitterly.

“What does any of this have to do with Omashu?” Zhu Li interrupted impatiently. “This is all history now.”

“It is, and it isn’t,” Sook signed, as Huan translated for her. “The past is fixed and unchanging, but what happened then affects now. The future is always in motion, but there are patterns in the outcomes of the future, if we look at how history has shaped the present.”

“What do you mean?” Kya asked, fascinated. 

“Yes, what do you mean,” Su repeated, sourly. “How does Aiwei’s allegiance to the Red Lotus apply here?”

“He was fundamentally unhappy with the leadership of this city.” Sook answered. “He was essentially your head snitch. That must have been wearing on his conscience.”

Lin and Kya snickered, but Su was aghast. “Snitch? He helped me lead… “

“...control…” Sook signed simultaneously.

Su’s mouth hung open. This was it. This was Sook’s aim all along, to take her city from her.

“Before you say I’m some kind of insurrectionist, I’ll just say that yes, in a way I am.” Sook signed, calmly. Huan translated it coolly, but there was a slight smile on his face.

“I don’t have any interest in being the new Matriarch of Zaofu,” she continued. “Don’t worry about that.”

“Well then what is it you DO want?” Su demanded.

“Are you listening, Lady Beifong?”

“To what!? That’s what you said in that damned note!” Su stood and shrieked with her voice, forgetting to sign. 

Bataar put a hand on her arm, drawing her attention to him. “Listen to her,” he mouthed.

Su was startled at her husband’s words. She sat down and took a deep breath.

“Go on.”

“The age of kings and queens has to come to an end. In places where that form of governance clings, the people suffer. You will deny that you are a queen, but the manner of your recent leadership demonstrates otherwise.”

“Zaofu has always been family to me!”

“You didn’t meet me until yesterday, but I’ve been living in this city for much more than a year now. That’s not how families work.”

Su shrank slightly.

“You can’t be mother to a city of thousands of people. Maybe at first everyone was happy to let you lead; they needed your inspiration and willpower to create the city. But now the children are grown, and they want to lead their own lives.”

“But the Red Lotus wanted chaos!”

“Yes, they did. Their aims were misguided. Like many revolutionaries, they dreamed that others would want what they want, and only needed to be shown the ‘one true way’. They believed that everyone was capable of being their own master, even though we know most people are happy to let others do the things necessary to make a nation functional. Not everyone is a leader. It’s difficult, as you well know. Most people just want to be followers.”

“What do  _ you _ want, then?”

“Self-determination for the people of Zaofu. A voice that’s heard. A vote.”

Zhu Li, caught up in the conversation, interrupted again. “Do you think that’s what Omashu wants?”

“I don’t know,” Sook admitted. “Lady Beifong has done an extraordinary job leading this city. She’s raised a fine family, in a sense.”

Suyin’s eyes widened. This was unexpected.

“Omashu is still full of children, if you will allow me to continue with the analogy. They may still need a queen to help them mature.”

“So we should go back and save the queen!”

“Don’t be hasty,” Sook signed, as Huan translated. “We should determine what the will of the people is. Some will still support her, but others may want someone else. It’s up to those people to decide their own fate.”

“But that could be disastrous,” Su said. “What if they choose some corrupt minister instead?”

“I suppose that should be our role: to help inform the people of the city what their real choices are, so they can make the best decision possible.”

Lin leaned in. “Then we need to determine who is telling the truth there. Someone has murdered three of the queen’s ministers. She’s a young woman without much experience. The city has been fed a good deal of propaganda about evil spirits, much of it nonsense. That’s probably to keep them afraid and under control. Her uncle was regent, and he aligned himself with Kuvira.”

“Yes, Kuvira.” Sook signed. “Her problem, of course, was that she didn’t think your leadership was strong enough, correct?”

Suyin nodded.

“She viewed everyone as children incapable of conducting themselves without her oversight. I would have been terminated if she had become dictator of the Earth Kingdom. I can’t be sure, but I would have been considered unproductive. In dictatorships, if your labor isn’t useful, you’re a burden, and you need to be eliminated. My skills would not have been appreciated.”

Su finally laughed. “Pointed critique isn’t very popular.” 

Sook smiled crookedly. “Unpopular, but constructive criticism is necessary, isn’t it, Huan?”

Huan agreed heartily. “Sook has made me a better artist and a better person by challenging me. There’s nothing mean-spirited about it. She only wants me to improve myself. She only wants to help you make Zaofu a better place.”

Sook looked at him with love, and Lin heard Kya sigh gently beside her.

“You’ve been depressed since Kuvira destroyed the city. It’s clear to me that you needed some help, but you’ve had a hard time hearing anyone who has good suggestions. You reacted to Kuvira’s strength by trying to be domineering, but you aren’t that kind of leader. Your strengths are in encouragement and inspiration. Now you can inspire new people to create a new, stronger, more inclusive Zaofu for themselves.”

Zhu Li exclaimed, “You need to come with us!”

“No,” Sook said. “I’m not physically capable of getting around Omashu. The place was built in a time before people like me were worth considering, and they are hide-bound by their traditions. To them, I will seem to have been cursed by those evil spirits.”

Varrick announced, “I have a great idea for helping you get around! Zhu Li, get the sketchbook!”

Zhu Li turned to her husband, who’d appeared at the table unnoticed. “Excuse me?”

“Sugarbottom,” Varrick said, “I’m sorry. I screwed up.”

“Oh Varrie!” she cried, throwing her arms around his neck.

“What’s up with those two?” Su asked Lin. 

Lin closed her eyes and shrugged.

* * *

Kya was concerned. “Toph, are you sure you want to go with them? Opal and I can take you to the Swamp on her bison.”

Toph shook her head vigorously. No. She was going with her girls. Once they’d told her the plan to go to Omashu to help resolve the crisis, and make sure Korra and Asami were unharmed, she grabbed her bag and headed to the airship dock elevator.

“Kya, it might be a good idea if you come with us,” Lin said. “The three of us are going to need a little help communicating with each other. Opal? Are you in?”

“Of course I’m in, Aunt Lin! We’re family! Between the five of us, we’re unstoppable!”

Kya looked to Suyin, but when Suyin caught her eye, Su turned away. That subject had not been broached. Toph and Opal both knew about her and Lin, but as yet no one had mentioned it explicitly. Now would be extremely awkward, but when? 

“Bison or airship?” Su asked.

“I say bison,” Lin said, “as much as I regret saying it.” She could feel her mother sag slightly, and touched Toph’s shoulder. “I get it now, Mom. Riding in the air while not being able to see sucks platypus bear eggs.”

“Bison,” Su agreed. “It will be useful to have a quiet look around before we announce ourselves. An airship will be spotted too easily.”

Kya helped Toph and then Lin climb into the saddle, and she sat next to Lin, close but not too close. Opal puffed herself up and onto Juicy’s head deftly, and snapped the reins. 

“Yip yip!”


	18. Information and Influence

The young boy was thin enough to slip between buildings that grown men could not, which was useful when picking pockets; but he was also a bender, so he could make himself little toeholds up the side of any building. Quick as a spider, he scaled the tower wall and through force of habit peered in through windows, observing whether anyone had left any valuables on a table or dresser near enough to reach through and snatch.

But he wasn’t interested in that this evening, not unless there were a particularly valuable prize to be taken… what he’d learned tonight was worth more than any handful of coins or gold brooch left carelessly lying out. Tonight he was on his way to trade knowledge for some real money.

Usually the bars and restaurants on this level of the city were busy at this time of night. Down where he lived, it was dark, and people stayed inside their homes, fearful of spirits. Only guards were brave enough to be out down there, torches alight, and never alone. He, of course, was less afraid than maybe he should have been, but he hadn’t seen a spirit in all his nighttime excursions, and he knew how to hide when the torchlight wavered in the narrow streets.

But tonight the businesses were closed, and the streets were eerily silent. Something big was happening here in Omashu, and he was sure he knew why. 

He climbed up one of the city chutes to a ledge, and scooted across it to a window that had a view over the east section of the city. Leaning over very carefully to look inside, he saw the form of a large man hunched over a table, a lamp lighting the parchment he was writing on.

“Just come in, Shin,” the man said, tiredly.

Shin could never understand how the old captain knew he was at the window. No one else ever suspected he was there, but the captain  _ always _ did.

He slipped through the stone frame into the soldier’s office, and crept around to a chair by the wall where he’d been allowed to sit before.

“Awful quiet tonight, isn’t it, Shin?”

“Yes sir,” the boy said, carefully. “I know why.”

The man leaned back in his wooden chair until it creaked, and he closed his eyes.

“Do you, now?”

“It’s the Avatar! She’s in the city!”

The captain chuckled. “Try again, boy. That’s old news.”

Shin was disappointed. How did the captain know that already? But it had been half a day already since the woman in waterbender clothing, who’d so gracefully spun and polished their game ball stone, had impressed his friends in the plaza. So maybe he’d had time to hear about her.   
  
“She’s got the queen with her.”

The captain opened his eyes, and then he narrowed them.

“She does, does she?”

“She came to my house tonight, looking for blankets and water. She said there was an assnasimation attempt.”

“Assassination.” Long Kuai corrected. He stroked and tugged his long beard.

“Is she going to upset the spirits?” Shin asked, and then curled himself up, as he realized how fearful he sounded.

“The Avatar? No. She’s a good person.”

“But what about the spirits? Will they listen to her?”

“The Avatar is the bridge between our world and the spirit world. She probably knows better than most people how to talk to spirits. And anyway, you shouldn’t be worried about that sort of thing. Your dad is…”

“Dad hasn’t been home since she scared him away.”

Long Kuai picked up the inky brush he’d laid by his calligraphy and inspected the black bristles. 

“She did, huh?”

“She said she’d take away his bending if he ever hurt momma again.”

The captain smiled.

Shin was annoyed. He hadn’t expected the old man to be pleased. “Can she do that?”

“Take away his bending? Well, yeah, I think she can. Avatar Aang could do it. That’s how he won the Hundred Years’ War. Took the Fire Lord’s bending away, so he couldn’t hurt anyone ever again.”

Shin became nervous. Long Kuai leaned forward and fixed him with a look. “Have you been up to something?”

He squirmed, looking away. Did the captain know about his stealing? How did he know? 

Stay on target, or there would be no payoff. “But she’s just a girl.” Then he turned back to the captain. “Right?”

“She’s the Avatar, Shin. She’s the most powerful bender on this earth. Half of the Avatars have been women. You know that. Like Kyoshi. She was one of the most powerful even of all the Avatars.”

“But…”’

“But because she’s not a man, she doesn’t count as much? Look, boy, I haven’t told you this before, because usually people should respect their parents, but your father was wrong about a whole lot of things. Did he hurt your momma?”

Shin nodded at his feet, hot and confused inside.

“That wasn’t right. Legal isn’t the same thing as right, sometimes. Your momma works hard, does everything he says, doesn’t she? But he hurts her anyway?” 

Shin was silent. Long Kuai was right, but...the traditions! Men were made to tell women what to do. That’s what his dad had always said. How could he have been wrong?

The captain sighed heavily. “Shin, there’s a lot more going on in the world than you can see from here in Omashu. Omashu has great traditions…”

“‘Omashu’s traditions will keep us safe from evil spirits…’” the boy recited.

“And it has some really damned stupid ones,” Long Kuai continued, irritated.

Shin’s eyes were wide. Long Kuai was risking a lot, saying that.

“If you’re afraid of evil spirits, boy, what are you doing out after dark anyway?”

“I thought… with the queen… and the fighting...“

“I appreciate how you thought you could help me out, Shin. I knew the Avatar was here because I saw her this afternoon. I didn’t know there’d been an assassination attempt on the queen, but I’m not surprised. And if she’s with the Avatar, she’s probably safe.”

Shin frowned. This wasn’t going the way he expected. Or wanted.

“Just because your dad didn’t respect the queen because she was born a girl doesn’t mean your dad was right about that, either. So get that stupid traditional idea out of your head. You want to be a great bender? You better learn right quick that half of the benders you’ll ever meet will be women, and all of them will kick your ass from here to Ba Sing Se if you underestimate them. You ever heard of Toph Beifong?”

“No,” the boy said, sullenly.

“Greatest earthbender who ever lived. I met her once. She’s blind, and she learned from the badgermoles themselves.”

“But…”

“She fought King Bumi in a rumble, and they had to call it a draw.” Long Kuai said, with finality. “She was twelve years old.”

Shin chewed his bottom lip. That couldn’t be true. A twelve-year-old girl fighting the legendary King Bumi and not losing? King Bumi had driven out the fire nation single-handedly!

“It’s time to think for yourself, Shin.” Long Kuai stood, and went over, putting his large hand on the thin boy’s shoulder. “Not everything your father told you was right. You have to find out for yourself. And you should listen to the wise old words of King Bumi… keep your mind open to the possibilities.”

“But so what about the queen? And the Avatar?”

“That’s my job to worry about now. You should get home. Chances are good that if your dad was scared off by the Avatar, he won’t be back anytime soon. Listen to your mother, but take care of her too, like a real man ought to.”

Shin rose, his face so mixed with emotion that it was unreadable. He headed toward the window, but the old captain stopped him and turned him around.

“Go home through the gate like a citizen. Not like a criminal,” he warned.

Shin scuttled through the door and fled down the hallway.

* * *

“Did you say something?” Asami asked the woman who lay across the room from her.

“Miss? Can...Will you listen to me?”

Asami was cautious. “What do you want?”

“I didn’t do it. I didn’t try to kill the queen.”

“Right. We’re all just soaked in blood because why?”

“It was Minister Ming. The old one. He’s senile. He had a knife, and he moved so fast I couldn’t stop him. I could only get the knife away from him and drive him off. I didn’t mean to kill him.”

Asami was silent.

“The captain just told me to watch for a signal, and that I was supposed to get the queen down here as soon as I could, but when everybody realized the trade group had escaped, Ming got his knife and stabbed her.”

“You said you were going to be crushed. Murderers are executed by crushing.”

“I didn’t mean to kill Minister Ming,” the woman repeated, and then her voice caught, and she sobbed once. “I don’t want to be crushed.”

This woman didn’t know Korra had saved the minister. Asami kept that information in reserve.

“Why did you bring her here? What is this place?”

“The captain said this is a private meeting place for White Lotus. King Bumi built it.”

Asami considered this. Maybe she and Korra had stumbled on top of a White Lotus plan to save the queen, when in fact their own idea to hide her was exactly the same. It certainly made more sense than that this woman had tried to kill the queen and then drag her all the way down those steps to watch her die, rather than doing the job and getting away clean.

“I can’t undo the bindings. Korra is the metalbender.”

“She can bend metal?” the woman asked, astonished.

“There are a lot of metalbenders. The entire city of Zaofu was founded by metalbenders.”

The woman took her turn not speaking.

After a time, Asami asked, “What were you supposed to do when you got the queen here?”

“I was supposed to wait with her here until Long Kuai came for us. He was going to get us out of the city and to somewhere safe until the Ministers had begun the succession negotiations. He knows there are several plots against the queen, and he was trying to find out who was involved.”

“So he was going to meet you here soon?”

“He said he would.”

Korra was going to get herself arrested to meet with the captain, when the captain might already be on his way to find them. That could be a problem, if he were already gone… they’d jail her and hold her until he returned, and that could be far too late.

But what could she do? Asami dared not leave the queen’s side; she had no idea what to do about such blood loss. She wished desperately that Kya or Katara were near. She couldn’t leave her with the assassin… the _alleged_ assassin… while her hands and feet were bound with iron. The woman would be unable to do anything were the queen to wake up.

Waiting with nothing to do was a lot harder than keeping busy; she put her mind to work. At least the captain was coming to help, or both Korra and the captain were. Either way, she had to plan for what might happen next.

“I’m Asami,” she said.

* * *

Moonlight flooded the plaza where she’d dueled Tall Man. The street was repaired with earthbending, and it looked like much of the mess was cleaned up, but there was still a slight smell of sewer in the air. The place was empty. 

Korra wandered about this level of the city, hoping for a patrol to come by. She made no effort to stay in the shadows. With the streets deserted, the best way for her to be noticed would be to walk through them openly. 

It was possible that in the uproar of Varrick’s escape, and the attack on the queen, the city’s guards were taking the night off, while the ministers decided who would be their next ruler. Right now there might be no minister that had the loyalty of a majority of the guards, and the guards would be unanswerable to any but themselves until the alliances in the ministry were worked out. 

That was the risk. Hopefully anyone who found her would take her to the White Lotus captain, and not some other guy running his own little earthbender gang, loyal to somebody else.

The night was warm and humid, and there was a halo around the moon. Korra looked up at it. Princess Yue had saved the moon spirit, while Aang joined with the water spirit to drive off the Fire Nation’s invasion. She’d heard that Councilman Sokka was in love with the Northern Tribe’s princess, and was heartbroken when she gave her life back to the moon spirit after it had been burned by the Fire Nation.  _ She must have been very beautiful, and very brave, _ Korra thought.  _ Just like Asami.  _

Spirits almost never cursed humans… they only acted when the humans were interfering with their business. Why did this city believe the spirits were evil?

As she gazed up at the moon, its light bathing the tower in white, she noticed a tiny figure climbing down its wall, not unlike a spider. She squinted, trying to make out what the figure was doing, when strong hands gripped her, and a hand covered her mouth with a rag. The rag had a funny smell. Her head spun, and the moon’s light dimmed.

* * *

When he was a boy, his father was one of King Bumi’s personal guard. He took Long Kuai to see the old King lying in state when he passed away. Bumi had lived to a fabulous old age, and it was said that his last words were a snorting laugh and “Don’t make me come back!”

He and his father played pai sho that evening by lamplight. His father was playing a new, strange way, creating a shape on the board with his tiles.

“The White Lotus opens wide to those who know its secrets,” his father said, when the tiles formed a flower, and Kuai wondered what it meant.

That was long ago. Now he was the master, with his own pupil, and his home city was in turmoil. 

The Avatar was with the queen, which was only a little off from his original plan, and regardless of how she’d stumbled into this, he was glad she was here.

Shin was a good resource for information, most times, and he’d tried to be easy on the boy, knowing what a piece of trash his father was. He couldn’t turn a blind eye to the boy’s thefts any longer, but maybe the coming change would put Shin on a better path. 

He stood from his wooden chair and stretched. Moving to an open space near the window, the nearly-full moon shining down into the room of the tower, he sat on the floor and crossed his legs into the lotus position, and began to meditate.

As time passed, he felt himself leave the tower room, his spirit lifting from the weight of his body, and drift. His eyes were closed in the human world, but he opened them in the spirit world and saw the purple skies of a dayless evening. 

“Jiuweihu,” he said, quietly. 

He waited, patiently, unmoving, until some time later a tremendous silver fox appeared, with nine flowing tails, and sat opposite him.

They waited in silence at first, as the minutes expanded. Finally, the fox spoke.

“You see now how it works? How you can make others do your bidding?”

“I do, ancient one. Some wills are harder to bend than others.”

“That is to be expected. Practice will improve your skill.”

“Thank you, ancient one.”

“And your own will, pupil? Is it still strong?”

“I am a humble human, and you are an ancient spirit. I thank you for your patience with me. I cannot see all the outcomes that you can, and I am hesitant to push other humans in ways too far counter to their own will. If I am wrong, I will cause harm.”

The fox’s fur fluffed. It looked off into the distance. “Achieving a goal sometimes necessitates causing some harm. It cannot always be avoided. Do you fear your goal is not just?”

“No, ancient one. As far as I can see with my limited understanding, what I have attempted will have the desired effect.”

“The Avatar’s path is soon to cross yours.”

“Yes.”

“I will be pleased to see the way that affects the outcome of your efforts,” the fox said casually. It stood and paced away, fading into the gloom.

Once he was alone, Long Kuai closed his eyes in the spirit world, and soon felt the solidity of his body once again. The spirit had offered no new instruction, so he’d have to keep practicing. The longer he studied this practice under the spirit Jiuweihu, the more uncomfortable with it he was becoming. It was one thing to be able to see what others were doing; but it was quite another thing to push them to act.

Yet it had been useful, having influence without having to say a word. It had made getting the hostages out much easier, when they thought they had discovered an opening, and honestly making a break for it. In reality he’d scheduled his guards to be in all the wrong places at that time, but then none of them could blame themselves for the escape.

He was not able to change the minds of some of the ministers. Ming, unfortunately, was too incoherent to manipulate; Ren Chong was a smooth glass wall in his mind, as yet unreadable.

Maybe he could convince Xin Ling to come back. Distances were irrelevant in the spirit world. He could influence him from Omashu easily. Send a messenger hawk that the queen was dead, and make the suggestion that he could return...that would certainly lay bare the loyalties of the ministers, once Xin Ling arrived.

That could happen in the morning. Right this moment, Korra was probably out there now, getting herself arrested to see him… it’s what he’d have done himself. So now he’d go and find who it was that caught her. Hopefully she’d survive the night too.

 


	19. Paths That Cross and Cross Again

The afternoon sped by, as Opal steered Juicy southwest across the mountains toward Omashu. Sunlight gleamed golden on the peaks.

Toph and Lin both appeared to be dozing, as their eyes were closed and they reclined in the large saddle atop the sky bison’s broad back.

Kya stole several glances at Suyin, who appeared to be keenly interested in the scenery as they glided silently just below the clouds.

This ride had become ridiculous in its awkwardness. She tried to recall all the events of the time she’d spent in the valley twenty-five years ago, but names and places were now blurred by time and the new city she’d seen built over what was almost open land back then.

She thought about Na Wen, the woman she’d spent those nights with back then. Na Wen was eager, like all the rest of the builders and metalbenders. She was idealistic and optimistic about the future of the city, but otherwise they hadn’t talked about much. So it had been with many women over the years, Kya thought wistfully. They might be friends still, but she’d lost track of almost all of them.

Then it occurred to Kya that Na Wen might still be in Omashu. Maybe on returning, she could stop and say hello, and have a laugh with her and catch up a little. Lin had been gracious in meeting some of the women from her past. Nuying was even a good friend of Lin’s now.

She started to turn to Suyin to ask, and then remembered she would have to write out the question, but as she bent to reach into her travel back to look for something to write with, she wondered how Su would react. Kya wasn’t keen to reopen an old wound, though she knew it would have to be addressed sooner or later; but when would be a good time? Maybe if she wrote the things she needed to say, it would be private up here on the bison, with Lin and Toph unable to see what she was writing.

She fetched a fountain pen, and the pad they’d brought for communicating with Suyin, and began to write.

_I know things have been difficult since you lost your hearing, but I think we need to talk about what happened yesterday. I’m not angry, but you were, and I know it’s about how I left Zaofu the last time._

Kya paused and read it through a few times, but could not think how else to begin. She got up on her knees, and bent to reach over to Suyin, and put the sheet on her leg, holding it down in the breeze.  
  
Su turned, startled, and looked at Kya, her surprise sinking into a sudden, unconscious frown. Then she caught herself and saw the note.

Kya sat back, and watched Su read. The frown returned and creased her forehead, and her lips were tight.  She closed her eyes and turned back away for a bit, appearing to recall, and Kya was certain she saw the flush of embarrassment cover her as she was thinking of yesterday’s outburst, the scuffle and the boulder she’d flung.

It was some time before Suyin took up the pen and began to write. Kya dreaded the delay. If Su were really going to apologize, wouldn’t she just say so and be done with it? Lin had said that Su was more mature when she’d been there during the Red Lotus attack, and apologized for the rough time she’d given Lin when they were younger. They’d agreed to put their differences in the past.

And she’d let Opal follow her own path, though she was afraid to let her go. Now Opal was an expert airbender, on her way to mastery of the element. So why was it that Sook still felt she was overprotecting the city? That had been her own complaint, all those years ago.

Finally, Su folded the sheet and raised her arm. Kya reached out and took the paper, and sat back down, settling in to read.

_Yesterday was bad. I’m sorry that I tried to hurt you. It was my breaking point, and I’m embarrassed that I lost control then. I was expecting Katara. What happened the last time isn’t important anymore._

Kya’s shoulders slumped. _That’s it?_ she thought. What about when she’d been kicked out of Zaofu? Wasn’t she sorry for that? She’d said she wasn’t angry, but that was about the boulder. Even so, dismissing what had happened as unimportant was good for Suyin, but left Kya with a bitter taste.

She scribbled, _It is important. Why else would you be so upset that my mother wasn’t here? You know I trained as a healer with her, so you know I would have done the same things she would. And you drove me out of Zaofu the last time. I think I deserve a better explanation than the one you gave me back then._

Su read the response with a growing scowl. _You were a distraction to my people then. We had our rules, and you willingly defied them. Na Wen left not long after you did. We lost a member of our family before building the city even began, and that was because of you._

Kya gaped when she read this. Really?

_Have you learned nothing? She wasn’t one of “your” people. You didn’t own her. If she left, she left on her own, because she knew I wasn’t staying. Maybe I showed her a better time than your flunkies did, but her leaving had nothing to do with me. She didn’t follow me, so I can’t have been the only reason. I was hoping I’d see her again after we’re finished in Omashu, but I wonder if this will ever will be behind us._

Su glared at her as she put her arm out stiffly, returning the paper between two fingers. _The people who helped me build Zaofu were never flunkies and if you were able to think about anyone other than yourself you’d know that._

“Are you kidding me?” Kya blurted, before she snatched up the pad and began writing again.

“What’s going on?” Lin yawned.

“I’m having a conversation with your sister,” Kya said curtly, and continued to scratch at the paper.

Lin chuckled, and put her hands behind her head as she leaned back again.

 _How dare you!_ Kya scrawled. _After everything Sook and your own children have said to you, you still have the nerve to think of people as something you possess. Who is the selfish one? I did not do one thing to distract anyone in that camp while they were working, and to be blunt Na Wen and I didn’t do much talking when we weren’t. And you forget I helped you with a lot of that work. The bridge is still standing, thanks to my help, which I gave freely. So what’s the real problem?_

She waved the paper in front of Suyin when she was finished writing, and Su took it with a snarl. When she’d read it, she balled it up and tossed it out of the saddle. It fell gracefully in a spiral down from the heights.

Kya watched her message fall gently to earth, her mouth open. Su had resumed looking off into the distance.

“I can’t believe…” she started.

“She threw it away?” Lin guessed.

“How?”

“Suyin… Beifong,” Lin replied, as though the name answered everything. Even Toph chuckled at that.

Of course it did. Kya slumped back in the saddle. It was a family trait, to wall up hard feelings or to fight them out, and the saddle of the sky bison was not a good place for the latter.

“I thought she wasn’t like that anymore.”

“What’s going on?” Opal called back.

“Why does your mother hate me?”

“She doesn’t… _hate_ you.” Opal said, uncertainly, and quickly turned to face forward on Juicy’s neck again.

Kya was stumped. There had to be something else Su held against her. After all, Lin said that Su had had a crush on her when she was little.

“I don’t get it.”

“Give her some time,” Opal suggested weakly.

“Twenty five years isn’t enough?”

“Maybe you can fight her, once we land. Worked for me.”  
  
“Lin, be serious. I’m not going to fight her.”

Suyin called, without turning, “Don’t talk about me when I can’t hear you. Wait… OW! What? What are you…?”

Toph was making a small motion with her fingers, which Kya realized was bending metal on Su’s clothing. Her collar and wrist cuffs were being pulled so that she was forced to face the rest of them. The earrings in particular looked like they were being tugged painfully.

Lin made two gestures, once she was turned. She pinched her right cheek, and then she put her index fingers to her ears and moved them down and outward. _Rude. Ignore._

Su’s face was pure poison.

“What did I do?” Kya pleaded, aloud. “Why do you hate me?”

Kya’s expression was pained. Su softened slightly, trying to understand what Kya had said, and then motioned for her to write. When the paper changed hands, Su sat back looking at it.

The pause was long. Longer than it had been the first time.

“You left,” she said at last, and signed the words.

“You kicked me out!” Kya wailed, but then wrote it.

“Not then. When I was twelve. But earlier than that, too.”

Kya was at a loss for words. She sat helplessly with the paper and pen in her lap.

Su gestured for them, and began writing.

_When I was little, I always wanted to be like you. Even though you were much older than me, you always included me in the things you did with Tenzin and Lin. But that changed. You left us. You left me. You were still around, but things were never the same. It was like you forgot me completely. But when I was twelve, you were twenty-two, and that’s when you left for good. That was the same year Lin went into the police academy, and she and Tenzin never had time for me anymore. No one had time for me. Not you, not Mom, not Lin. I was alone._

_Mom was always telling us that we were supposed to be rock-like. So I pretended that I was. That’s how I got mixed up with the Terra triad, trying to be tough, but still I felt like I had somebody that was at least interested in me. I was angry that people were always leaving. Someone in the triad would get arrested, and it made me upset that another person I knew was gone._

_Then I got sent away. I assume they told you that I was the one responsible for Lin’s scars. Everyone I cared about was gone, and I was living with our grandparents, and they seemed not to know how to talk to me. All that time I kept thinking about how when we were younger, you were good to me, but when you left, that’s when everything started falling apart._

_When you came to Zaofu, I was so excited to see you. It was the first time I’d seen you in years. Even though by then I understood why you’d left, it was like being young again, and I believed everything would start being good again. That was why I came to your tent that night. I was going to ask you to stay. We really did feel like a family, and I called them my people because I felt like one of them. It was never about being in charge of them. They wanted me to be the leader, and I accepted the role._

_I wanted you to be part of that new family, but when I came to your tent and found you with Na Wen, I was shocked. I’m not a prude, but what I saw startled and upset me. I realized that the reason you’d been staying was not because of me, and it was as though you had left all over again._  
_  
_ _The truth is that I was the one who was distracted, but I couldn’t let you see me be upset on your account. When you said you didn’t want to be part of my “entourage”, that hurt me more than anything._

_Once you were gone, I tried to put it behind me, but I didn’t reconcile with you because for many years I simply didn’t know where you were. Once I did, I was busy with my family, and it seemed pointless to bring it up. When you arrived instead of Katara, all that anger resurfaced. I was angry about everything, and I know you didn’t deserve it._

Kya’s eyes filled with tears at this confession, and when she looked up at Suyin Beifong, she was weeping too. She got up on her knees, arms open, and Suyin joined her in an embrace.

“I’m sorry too,” Kya choked, and then pulled back so that Su could see her say it.

Toph chuffed. She frowned, and made some punching gestures.

“I guess Mom’s disappointed she doesn’t get to see us fight,” Suyin observed, with a laugh.

* * *

 When she came to, Korra’s head was swimming. Her tongue was dry, too dry, but when she breathed in she gagged on the wad of cloth inside her mouth.

It was dark. She tried to move, but felt her arms tight behind her, and her feet. Her heart beat faster, as panic approached—memories of being chained by Zaheer flashed through her mind. Her breathing became harsh through her nose, and she retched again on the material clogging her mouth.

There was a voice that was speaking, and she tried to listen to it, grounding herself against the panic rising inside. It was a man’s voice, familiar but unfamiliar. He was… asking questions. Someone was answering. A child. A boy. His voice was familiar too, but she wasn’t able to place it.

“Where did you see them? Are you sure she was alive?”

“She asked my mom for water and stuff. Said she’d lost a lot of blood. ”

“But where? Where were they?”

“Down in the tower. I saw her coming out of the wall.”

“Excellent work, boy.” There was a clink of coins.

Korra knew she’d just been sold out by the young Shin, but to whom?

“What do we do with her now?” another man’s voice said. It was vaguely familiar too.

She heard the scrape of shoes on the stone floor. Someone was pacing. The one who had paid the coins was thinking.

Korra wondered which “her” the second man meant. The queen? Or herself?

“We can’t very well dispose of the Avatar under the current circumstances. We’ll have to let her go. Take her to Long Kuai. Tell the captain she was out after curfew, acting suspicious. That ought to keep him distracted for a while. It has the added benefit of making her look like she was meddling in the internal affairs of Omashu.”

Whose voice was this?

“What do I do?” Shin said.

“Get your ass home before I beat it,” the second man said. “And tell your mother she better have something hot for me to eat. She got off easy this morning, but not tonight.”

Shin’s father. The creep whose bending she’d threatened to take away this morning. Apparently he was feeling smug about capturing the Avatar.

She felt hands on her body, lifting her up from the floor. She was thrown like a sack of potatoes over a shoulder, and an itchy beard scraped her arm. The man stunk. She breathed shallowly, struggling not to gag again.

“And the queen?” the creep asked.

“You said the Avatar’s friend was with the queen?”

“Yes, Minister,” Shin answered.

“Hmmm. Indeed,” he chuckled.

Korra nearly went into the Avatar state at his tone. Minister Ren Chong. He’d said “indeed” this morning, in a different way, but it was the same voice. If he did anything to Asami, oh, spirits! … but she had to be quiet. They were going to deliver her to Long Kuai, just as she’d hoped. So why was that name familiar too? He was the captain, but she knew that name from somewhere else.

“I’ll think of something,” the minister said, finally. “Go.”

* * *

 

The thin clouds that had haloed the moon earlier were now thickening, and there was not much light in Omashu. It was past when most citizens had gone to bed. Under the chutes and in the lower levels of the city the darkness was inky.

Long Kuai longed to be back doing his calligraphy. He’d been writing a poem when Shin came in through the window. He yearned to read new poetry, and see new art. The books in Omashu were older than he was, and he’d already read them numerous times. It was lonely being a White Lotus master in this town, in these days; Xue was just learning now, and he wished he’d started her training ten years earlier.

But ten years earlier he’d been adrift, trying to decide what to do now that the Avatar had mastered earthbending and was on to firebending. The Grand Masters of the generation before his appreciated philosophy, beauty and truth. It was Avatar Aang’s request to protect Korra that had changed their mission, and ended their secrecy. Now there were hundreds of White Lotus members around the world; not all of them were particularly interested in philosophy or art or anything like it.

Even so, Masters of the Order of the White Lotus were still masters of martial arts, element benders as well as those trained with weapons and open-handed fighting. It seemed like a natural fit for him to return to his home in Omashu, and assume the life of a palace guard, rising as his father had done to captain.

His father had believed in the old way, and taught him about the finer things as well as fighting. On this dark night Long Kuai wished mightily that his city could find peace, so that he could go back to those finer things. Maybe now that his path was to cross the Avatar’s, Omashu could at last find balance.

A torchlit guardpost appeared in his view as he rounded a corner, just a couple of streets above the lowest levels of the city. Cautiously he approached, knowing that since the escalation of tensions following the riot, there were factions among the guards, some loyal to Daiyu, some not. All respected their Captain, but the soldiers were on edge. Someone might lash out before they knew who he was.

In any case it was always good to keep one’s men on their toes.

From this distance, he observed their behavior. They were awake, but not as watchful as in days previous. News of the assassination attempt would have made its way to them by now, and this particular faction seemed pleased with the outcome. They were likely Ren Chong’s supporters. He noted that some of them were holding mugs, probably drinking a toast to their new leader’s success, pleased that someone who believed as firmly as they did in the traditions of Omashu was going to reestablish the old ways.

Overhead he heard the _whoosh_ of a cart sliding down a chute. It was the wrong hour for such noise, and Long Kuai moved silently in the inky shadows to where the chutes landed.

A man climbed from the cart, carrying a burden on his shoulder. He followed the man in absolute silence as he headed directly for the guard shack.

“Anybody seen the Captain?” he asked.

“Not yet,” another replied. “He’s running behind tonight.”  
  
Long Kuai smiled to himself. They thought they knew his routine.

“Have a drink!” a third said. “Ren Chong’s bound to be king now!”

“Don’t mind if I do,” the man said, “but first, I gotta drop this load.” He shrugged off the burden from his shoulder, and to Long Kuai’s dismay, he recognized the shape of Korra fall onto the stone floor. He winced when she hit, and she curled in pain, but to her credit did not call out.

Someone passed the man a mug, and he took a long drink before wiping his mouth with his sleeve. “Yeah, I’ve got the Avatar here. Gonna drop her off on the Cap’n ‘fore I go home.”

There were some sounds of amazement as the men gathered. “How’d you get the Avatar?” “Was that who beat the Captain today?” “Oh, she’s in for it now!”

That was enough. He bent a pile pebbles into the air and dropped them onto the roof of the guard shack. The noise startled the group of men, and they all crouched into fighting positions, circling their backs to each other. He slipped along the dark wall, came up behind the shack, and with a gesture shook its walls.

“AAhh!!” several exclaimed, as they turned around, “Who’s there?!” one shakily demanded.

Launching himself on a platform of stone, he somersaulted into the air and landed in their midst.

“ATTENTION!” he shouted. The guards at first scattered in fear, and then shamefacedly ran back to line up in front of their captain.

He poked one in the chest. “You were drinking on duty.”

“Yes sir.”

He poked another. “So were you.”

“Yes, sir, sorry sir.”

He came to Shin’s father, and bent down close to his face. “You aren’t taking care of the prisoner you were supposed to be bringing to me.”

Shin’s father’s eyes widened in fear. “I... I...”

Long Kuai drew himself up to his full height. He stood taller than any of this detachment.

“These are interesting times, aren’t they?” he asked, his voice soft.

The men were silent.

“You have duties. Do them.” At this, the detachment scattered, but before he could escape, Long Kuai had Shin’s father by the shoulder with a tight grip. He turned him around.

“Your son needs a father. You don’t seem up to the task. I wonder how the Avatar will judge you. Because, mark my words, she _will_ judge you. I hope for your son’s sake that she doesn’t find you lacking.”

Shin’s father cringed.  
  
“Go to the barracks at the city gate. Stay there until I ask for you.”

The man fled.

Alone at the shack, the captain gently undid Korra’s blindfold and gag, and then the ropes around her hands and feet.

“I’m sorry about the way you were treated,” he said softly.

Korra rolled onto her back and looked up at Tall Man, standing over her, his eyes twinkling in the torchlight.

“Long Kuai?”

“Remember me? ‘Wait and listen, little girl,’” he said.

Suddenly he saw Korra’s eyes light with recognition, and she reached up arms to embrace him. He picked her up off the ground and hugged her back, tightly.

“Master Long! I can’t believe I forgot that ‘little girl’ thing!” Korra cried. “How old was I?”

“Eight or nine. You had waterbending mastered at six, but it took you a little longer to get the fine points of earthbending down.”

“What are you doing in Omashu?”

“I’m from here, Avatar Korra. After you completed your training, my duty was done, and I left the South Pole compound. I didn’t really have anywhere else to go, so I came home.”

“I need your help now, Master Long. The queen is in a lot of danger right now. Asami and I rescued her from an assassin, and we’ve got the queen and that woman down in a room at the bottom of the city.”

“She’s not an assassin. She’s my pupil, Xue.”

“What are you talking about? We chased her all the way down from the banquet hall in the palace. There was a trail of blood the whole way!”

“Something went wrong in our plans. When the people from Republic City managed to get to the airship, she was supposed to take the Queen to safety. Someone else must have hurt the queen. Xue was trying to protect her.”

“Wait… so you knew they were going to escape on the airship?”

“Things were arranged that way, yes.”

“They left us behind!”

“I didn’t know you were here, Korra. If I had, I would have been the first to greet you. As it is, I hope you’ll help me restore balance to Omashu. We need it badly.”

“Yeah, you do. But first we need to get the queen to safety.”

“Let’s go, then,” Long Kuai said, and lifting Korra in his arms, he carried her to the chute. He climbed into the cart with her, and they slid down to the bottom-most landing in all of Omashu.


	20. Past Meets Present

The sound of footsteps brought Asami out of her planning reverie. They weren’t Korra’s steps.

She caught Xue’s eyes and put a finger to her lips. Putting the lamp out, she backed away into a corner, and readied herself for a fight.

Light glowed around the spiral staircase as the footsteps, heavy and dull, came closer. She felt her heart begin to race, and her senses were sharpened with adrenaline.

An unkempt guard stopped just outside the room, examining the door, which lay in pieces on the floor. He crouched slightly, and peered forward into the darkness inside the room. Carefully he stepped over the timbers and across the threshold, and took another inside before halting at the hem of Queen Daiyu’s dress. He recoiled a half step, shocked.

Asami leapt out and knocked him sprawling backward with the heel of her boot to the middle of his chest, and he hit the doorframe heavily. She hadn’t even a moment to look before she herself was toppled by a large rock to her gut.

“Don’t touch my father, you bitch!” a thin, young boy shouted, and Asami craned her neck up to see him glaring at her in the half light, as the lamp the guard dropped began to sputter and go out. The boy bent to retrieve it, but when the flame righted itself he noticed the queen in the middle of the room, her gown drenched in drying blood. He stumbled backward in horror.

The guard had caught his breath now, and was rising, this time ready for Asami. He made the motions for an earthbending form as she struggled to stand, and hit her with three stones in the shoulder, sending her spinning.

Out of the corner of his eye he sensed movement, but not before Xue caught him with a blow to his head with the iron shackles on her wrists. He wobbled slightly, and went down on one knee. She jumped forward, landing on her palms, and on the second half of the flip smacked the top of his head with the metal around her ankles. He dropped.

By then, the boy had edged around the body in the center of the room and had Asami by the hair, yanking her up on to her knees.

Suddenly the room was flooded with a blue-white light, and wind began to gust inside the chamber.

“Let her go,” said a chorus of voices, blended by the Avatar state. He turned and his eyes widened in terror as Korra hovered near him, her body surrounded by light. He dropped Asami and ducked to the side, attempting to slip past her, but was caught in large, firm hands. Long Kuai lifted him off the ground and held him, as his legs moved uselessly.

“SHIN!” he roared, his voice echoing as loudly as Korra’s had, but deeper. The young boy froze.

Korra sank to the floor, and dashed over to Asami, gently lifting her. “Are you all right?”

Long Kuai turned Shin around and held him by the back of his collar. With movements of his free hand and arm, he bent the metal away from Xue’s wrists and ankles, and moved it to the guard’s.

“You insubordinate piece of crap,” he said, with disgust. “I told you to go to the barracks.”

Xue’s face was awed. “Master?”

“Yeah, I can metalbend,” he chuckled. “I was going to get around to showing you eventually.”

Shin kicked and wriggled, trying to escape. Long Kuai gave him a single rough shake. He pointed at the floor. “You see that? That blood? Better get used to it, if you keep to your father’s path. That’s what death looks like!”

Shin paled and stopped moving. He appeared as though he might vomit. “Is she dead?”

Korra knelt and put a hand to Daiyu’s wrist, feeling for a pulse. “No, but she’s got to get some healing soon. Is there any large pool of water near? I could try to heal her, maybe get her stabilized until we can get a real waterbending healer here.”

Asami came up behind Korra and put a gentle hand to her shoulder. “Korra, this is Xue.”

Xue bowed. “Avatar Korra.”

“No time for waiting. There’s a bath in the barracks, where this piece of garbage was supposed to be.” Long Kuai gave Shin’s father a light kick with the side of his foot, to emphasize his point.

He put Shin down, and turned him to look him in the face. “Your father may have been able to get away with hurting your mother, but no longer. There was no law against that, but there is a law against insubordination to a superior officer. I know you’ve been thieving from people, and that’s going to stop _right now_. You got me?”

The boy nodded gravely.

“Maybe it doesn’t look like it now, but I’m doing you the biggest favor of your life. You go home and nowhere else. Don’t come out again until I come for you. Understand? If I find you not home, I’ll recommend that Avatar Korra here take away your bending. And we _will_ find you.”

The White Lotus master stepped aside, and Shin bolted out the door, up the stairs, and out of sight.

“Think he’ll listen?” Korra asked.

“Hard to say. I hope so. Wouldn’t like to have him call my bluff.”

“You mean about taking his bending? Oh, I can do that.”

Long Kuai moved toward the queen with an eyebrow raised. “What exactly did they teach you after I left the South Pole compound, little girl?”

Helping him lift her limp body into his arms, she smirked. “That was something special I learned from Avatar Aang, later on.”

Asami gently pressed their shoulders. “We need to go. Catch up later.”

They started up the stairs. “Oh yeah… Master Long Kuai, this is my… my girlfriend, Asami Sato. Master Long was my earthbending teacher.”

“Pleased to meet you, Miss Sato. Korra’s girlfriend? You must have nerves of steel.”

Korra snorted, Asami laughed, and Xue shook her head in confusion as they went up the spiral staircase, and out into the black night.

* * *

Only Minister Ming might recognize the collection of colored gemstones in the rings Ren Chong intended to wear to this meeting. He himself had only been a boy when King Bumi passed away, but he noted them with interest, and the thought of them being buried with the old king burned in his mind for years.

Bumi had no children of his own, so there had been a midnight meeting of succession back then too. It was an ancient custom in Omashu, to begin selecting the next ruler the minute of the day following the old monarch’s death.  A second cousin then took the crown, but he was no spring pigchicken, either. After his passing, his daughter was the closest kin, and her husband was elevated from a minor minister to king. He was a pleasant man, honest and trusting. He knew nothing about wielding power.  
  
Ren Chong did. He also knew about poison.

“‘Outside the city gates lies corruption. Omashu’s traditions will keep us safe from evil spirits,’” he laughed to himself, as he looked on his image in a long polished mirror.

So easy to frighten the simple people of this city. So easy to control with old stories of spirits entering the bodies of humans and changing them, permanently. Illness, fires, mudslides… all could be blamed on evil spirits, and not on cheap building materials and old pipes.

The plague two years ago was a close call. He’d caught it himself. Though the waterbending woman had healed him, he noted with dismay the way people were doubting the spirits’ involvement, and he saw to it that word got out that the medicine brought in from Zaofu was not adequately traditional. It was a pity to lose more people that way, but it kept the citizens from rebellion.

And now, tonight, he finally had his chance. There were no more descendants in Bumi’s line. The succession would be a negotiated settlement, and he had enough dirt on enough ministers to ensure their support. Should any others need enticement, gold was in reserve for that.

Now that Daiyu and her aunts were out of the way, he could introduce modernizations at his own pace, making money from trade and appealing to all but the most diehard believers in the traditions. And now that Ming was unable to attend because of his injuries, and soon to pass himself, the poor fellow…those troublemakers would be brought to heel. The traditions of Omashu dictated that the king’s word was law.

The only gamble was the old Captain. Were he to do his duty, the Avatar would be locked up until morning, and that would prevent her interference in the succession negotiations, as well as prevent the rescue of the queen. And why should he not do his duty? He’d always done it before.

Still, he had a strange feeling about the Captain. Sometimes it felt eerily like someone was watching him, and he had a sense it was Long Kuai, but every time it was proven that the Captain had been in his tower room, meditating. He was careful about what he said when he was around the man.

He slipped a vial into his sleeve. First a visit to Ming’s chambers, then to the meeting.

The rings gave him confidence. No one knew he’d entered Bumi’s tomb and slipped them off his resting skeleton. No one would know he’d finished off Ming or the queen. No would challenge his right to the throne, and the rings would be worn by a king once again.

* * *

As the sky bison dipped below the clouds, Opal noted the darkness. “There’s Omashu. Doesn’t look like anyone’s awake at this hour.”

“Wowww,” Kya said.

“What is it?”

“It’s so weird, Lin. Republic City always has a glow over it at night, no matter the time. But Omashu is just… dark. There are only a few tiny spots of light that I can see from here. I can’t remember the last time I was in a city without electricity.”

“The last time we were here, I suppose,” Lin said.

“I don’t like it,” Opal muttered, but she urged her bison down to land on a ledge outside the city gate.

When they’d stowed their supplies in a little cave that Toph bent in the mountainside, Suyin asked, “How do we find Korra? Where should we start?”

Toph made a gesture, putting the backs of her hands together, and pressing forward, followed by spreading them out and back.

“Swimming?” asked Kya.

“No…” Lin said. “We can’t exactly swim into Omashu.”

“Digging?” Suyin offered.

“Like a badgermole?” Opal added, and at this Toph touched her nose and smiled.

“Yeah, that works. We tunnel our way into Omashu, and then Mom and I can seismic sense where Korra might be.”

“What’s the matter, Mom?” Opal asked Su, who looked rather upset after reading what Lin had said.

_I can’t seismic sense. What use am I going to be on this mission?_

“Neither can I, Suyin,” Kya replied. “But you can see. That’s going to be helpful too. And we need to be quiet, so hearing isn’t all that important.”

“Our first objective is to find Korra. Once we know she and Asami are safe, we’ll plan the next step. We don’t know what skills will be useful, Su. Let’s just get this first thing done.”

When Opal had finished transcribing, Su read it and nodded.

They climbed back on the bison, and descended further into the valley, to a point below the city walls where they were fairly sure no one would see them. Suyin, Toph and Lin worked at creating a tunnel sloping upward and inward into the mountain. Opal and Kya carried lanterns. It was quick work with the three of them moving stones and pushing earth, and before long they broke through into the cave system beneath the city.

They came into a cavern filled with sharp stalactites and stalagmites. In its middle was a rushing waterfall, in the center of which was an iron chain, waving endlessly in the flow. A ladder was embedded in the stalagmite underneath it. Across from them was a platform with a low wall, and in the keystone of the arch above it appeared to be a stalactite with a chain dangling from it.

“What’s this?” Su wondered.

“How strange!” Opal agreed.

“It’s… this is a test that King Bumi gave to my dad. I never thought I’d see this with my own eyes,” Kya said. “We’re under the palace.”

They wound their way through the sharp spikes grown up from the floor over millennia, and when they came to the platform the earthbenders launched their party up onto it. There was a long, dark hallway ahead of them.

“It doesn’t look like anyone has been here since Dad was.” Kya’s voice was awed.

Leading the way with a lantern, Kya told them in hushed tones about her father’s reunion with King Bumi after having been frozen in the iceberg for a hundred years. King Bumi was a “mad genius”, her father had always said, and was one of the best friends of his own youth.

“That explains your brother,” Lin commented.

“Kinda,” Kya laughed.

The walls echoed with her laugh, and they were startled by it. They continued on in silence.

Up some distance, they came to another room. It was very large, with a smooth floor.

“This must be the arena where Bumi and Dad dueled.”

There were rows of seats along its sides. “This would be a great place to play powerdisc,” Suyin observed.

“Or pro-bending,” Opal agreed, “but it’s creepy with no one in it.”

Not far from this place, the hallway stopped. There was a large stone plaque, with a bas-relief sculpture of King Bumi, and the words “Nothing to see here” carved next to it.

“Well isn’t he… handsome!” Suyin smirked.

“Should we turn around?” Opal asked.

“No, think. Dad’s tests in Omashu were to teach him to consider other possibilities. Bumi was a prankster. I think there really IS something to see here.”

Lin and Toph placed their feet solidly, and they rolled the giant plaque upward. It led onto a short ledge overlooking a room.

Opal leaned over the ledge with her lantern extended. “The floor is a big pai sho board. It’s covered in blood.”


	21. Night Shift

“Bro, I had the weirdest dream,” Bolin said, sitting down at his desk at the police station, a steaming cup of tea in front of him.

“Morning, Bolin,” Mako yawned and stretched, leaning back in his chair. “Yeah, me too.”

“Really? What was yours? Mine was about a big shiny animal with a whole bunch of tails.”

Mako’s chair tipped over backwards.

“Mako? You okay?”

“That was mine too! Big shiny fox with nine tails!”

Bolin’s eyes opened wide. “What did it say to you?”

“‘Do your duty,’ was all it said. Then I woke up.”

“I can’t believe...Mako! Mako… it said ‘Prepare for a journey’ to me!”

“This is too weird. It had to have been a spirit or something.”

“But why?”

“I dunno, bro. I guess we have to—” Mako’s phone rang. He picked it up hurriedly. “Mako here.”

Bolin could hear a shouting voice from Mako’s earpiece.

“Tenzin, Tenzin… Tenzin! We didn’t! No!”

The voice dropped in volume.

“Tenzin, I don’t know anything about that. I know Raiko was pushing the chief to get Xin Ling extradited, but she’s been out of town for a few days now, and we haven’t had any orders to take him. If he’s not on the Island, he had to have left on his own.”

Bolin strained to hear, but now Tenzin’s voice on the phone was very quiet.

“I’m sorry, Tenzin, but if we find him first, I have to tell Raiko. It’s my duty.” Once the words were out of his mouth, Mako’s face paled.

“No, no, I haven’t sent anyone out looking for him. If he gets back to the Island, we won’t be able to do anything… I understand, Tenzin. My hands are tied too.”

He put the phone back in its cradle. “Is that just a coincidence?”

“Xin Ling isn’t on Air Temple Island anymore?”

“No. Tenzin thought we’d raided during the night. He’s worried that we’ll send him back. I don’t know what to do, Bolin. If he comes in while I’m on duty, I… I have to…”

“‘Do your duty,’” Bolin said, somberly.

“And since I shouldn’t leave until Beifong gets back, you’ll probably have to transport him to Omashu.”

“‘Prepare for a journey,’” he said, awed.

Mako put his head in his hands. “I really hope he’s not in a holding cell now. Man, I wish the Chief were here.”

“Tenzin won’t blame you for doing your job.”

“He was ready to fight Beifong. But if this guy is in Republic City, he’s under the jurisdiction of the United Republics, and Raiko wants good relations with Omashu. I wish some spirit would come change Raiko’s mind.”

An officer came to Mako’s desk and dropped a paper on it. “Here’s the report of overnight activity. Anything you need to know before morning briefing?”

Mako eyed it with a pained expression, and then picked up his phone again. “Well, Bro. Get your undies packed.”

* * *

As they were peering into the darkened chamber, Opal pointed and whispered. “Look, over there. There’s a man! He’s not moving.”

Toph lowered the ledge so that they were all down in the room, and Kya crossed over to him. She dropped to one knee and put her hand to his throat to check for a pulse.

The man squirmed at her touch. “Leave me alone! Uhhh… my head,” he groaned.

She gently pulled the helmet off, and examined it. “He’s been hit hard,” and softly touched the knot on his skull.

The man winced and tried to roll away. She gestured for the blanket on the other side of the room, and Suyin went to get it.

“This belongs to Korra, doesn’t it?” Suyin said, holding up the furred pelt that the Avatar wore on her waist as part of her usual outfit. It had blood on an edge.

“Korra was here?” Opal asked.

“I don’t doubt it,” Lin replied. “Where there’s trouble, there’s Korra.”

“But all this blood,” Kya said, worriedly. “He doesn’t have any bleeding wounds. It’s not his.”

“You,” the man growled. “You’re that waterbending witch.”

“Witch?”

“The one who healed everyone during the plague,” he growled. “That’s when everything started going to hell.”

“Gee, thanks a lot,” Kya snapped. “I cured you too, I suppose.”

“I didn’t know it would lead to this, or I’d have passed it up.”

“Right,” Lin answered drily.

“He has iron on his wrists and ankles,” Suyin observed. “Korra?”

Lin nodded. “To my knowledge there are no metalbenders in Omashu. They haven’t changed much of anything since Aang’s time. Did you ever teach anybody here, Mom?”

Toph shook her head.

“So if Korra managed to leave this guy all bound up here, whose blood is this? There’s an awful lot,” Kya responded.

Toph stomped her foot, and Lin felt the vibrations create an image of their surroundings. There was a stairwell on the opposite side of the ledge, and above them a street, but she sensed no people on it. Perhaps her mother could sense further.

Toph pointed up and out in front of her.

“Korra is up there?” Lin asked, but Toph shrugged and shook her head. She extended her hand and spread apart her fingers.

“Five people?”

Yes, Toph nodded.

“Don’t leave me down here!” the man croaked.

“Whose blood is this?” Lin demanded.

“The queen’s.”

Kya and Opal gasped. Lin barked, “Is she dead?”

“I wish.”

Lin bent the metal away from his ankles, and with a jerk picked him up by the cuffs behind his back. She stood him upright. He groaned again as pain filled his head.

“Is the Avatar with her?”

The guard nodded his head.

“Good. You can show us where they went.” Lin gave him a shove, and he stumbled forward.

“Wait,” Suyin called, and tore an edge off the blanket. She stuffed his mouth. “We still need to be quiet.”

He gagged a moment on the rough cloth, but started on his way up the stairs, the women close behind him.

He led them up and around the spiral, so that they were surely above the level of the street. Toph reached forward to grip Lin’s elbow, and pointed at the wall.

“Yeah, we’re higher up than we should be.”

The guard’s eyes were dark and angry.

“What if Kya and Mom go up and see where this leads? Aunt Lin, you and Grandma can stay here with him, and I’ll go circle above to see if anyone’s out.”

Lin bent a small window into the wall, just enough for Opal to crawl through and dive. The wind picked up the sleeves of her wingsuit, and she glided skyward.

Kya and Suyin headed up the stairs, as softly as they were able.

Lin and Toph sat down on a stair to wait. The guard stood there, shifting his weight foot to foot.

Toph gestured at him, and then pinched her nose.

“I know,” Lin laughed. “Better or worse than the Swamp benders?”

Toph smiled and gave her a thumbs down.

“Ooo, awful.”

There was silence for a time, until Toph shifted closer to Lin, and put an arm around her shoulders. Lin stiffened at first, but then relaxed, and put her arm about her mother’s waist. It was an unexpected moment, but since Toph was unable to speak, and Lin didn’t know what to say, they stayed there.

The guard glared.

Lin’s emotions were swirling. It wasn’t that long ago that they’d broken a thirty-year silence. Longer than even Kya and Suyin’s. She’d always wished that she and her mother were closer, like Kya and Katara, but she knew that would never be possible. And yet, this closeness was exactly what she’d craved for so long. Now that it was happening, she didn’t know how to hold on to it. Once everything was back to normal, if it could even go back, would they go back to being who they’d always been?

Toph took her hand, and wrapped her own fingers around it. She bounced their arms twice on Lin’s leg, and her face was strange, with a little sad smile. She seemed almost to be saying she was sorry.

“I understand a lot of things better now,” Lin said. “Learning a new way to see… it’s more than just being able to feel vibrations.”

Toph nodded slowly.

“Truthseeing… it’s so strange, knowing when people are being honest. Or knowing how they feel.”

Her fingers were gently squeezed.

“Sook. You knew she was pregnant?”

Toph’s face changed to an expression that could be read as “not exactly.” She mimed whispering, cupping her hand to mouth, and then to her ear.

“The Chef told you.” Lin realized, remembering the jolly way he’d greeted her mother, and whispered something to her.

Toph nodded once again.

“Have you… can you tell? When people are? Pregnant?”

Toph bent forward and put her chin in her palm, elbow on knee. After thinking a while, she put her hand out flat and then rocked it to and fro. Sorta. Sometimes.

Lin leaned back against the stairs.

The minutes began to stretch. They had no idea how far up Kya and Suyin had gone, nor where Opal had flown.

The guard in front of them began to wobble. Lin sat upright as she felt his weight shift oddly, and Toph pulled her feet back, preparing to stand up.

Suddenly the floor gave way beneath them, as the guard jumped up, and when he landed he bent the stone to blow a hole through the stairs. There was a loud crash as large rocks fell onto the stairs below them, and rolled down further.

Lin reached out and snatched her mother by the waist as she shot a cable up from the reels on the back of her uniform. The shot glanced off the smooth surface of a stone. She felt herself falling, but suddenly landed with a hard thud on a flat surface. Toph had slid a block out from the inner wall of the stairs, and caught them both.

They paused, feeling the vibrations of the guard struggling to stand in the rubble on the stairs below them. Lin bolted forward, heading down after him, and out the hole he’d kicked in the outer wall. There was a short drop, so she jumped and tucked, rolling when she hit the street.

He was running. He’d managed to get his hands in front of himself, having wriggled his feet back over the iron cuffs, and had yanked the wad of blanket out of his mouth. He shouted for help as he ran. Lin tripped him with a speed bump. He tumbled into the dust.

A group of guards came running around a corner, each carrying sharp polearms. Toph placed her feet, extended her hands, and curled her fingers; their gleaming blades curled up tight into useless lumps at the end of their spears. The men were dumbfounded, and came to a stop.

“Stop!” Lin shouted. “We’re not here to fight! We’re here to find the Avatar!”

Lin heard the clatter of their weapons on the ground as they turned and fled. She felt the one they’d been chasing scramble to his feet and follow them, screaming. Perplexed, she stood up straight.

“Grandma!” she heard Opal cry, from above and in front of her.

With horror, she felt her mother Toph’s presence vanish. She was no longer on the ground.

“What’s going on?” she shouted frantically.

Suyin and Kya had emerged from the hole the guard had blasted and dashed over to her.

“Where’s Mom?” Suyin asked, her voice trembling.

“Lin, what’s happened? Where’s Toph?” Kya put a hand on Lin’s shoulder.

“I… I don’t know. She was here… and then…”

A moment later, Opal’s feet landed not far from the three of them. “It took Grandma!”

“What did!?” Lin shrieked. “She vanished! I can’t see what..”

Opal’s voice was panicked. “It was… a… I don’t know! It was a big...thing! It picked her up off the ground and ran away with her! I chased it… they went under a bridge… and…they weren’t there anymore!”

* * *

Long Kuai led Korra and Asami into the barracks, not far from the city gate. At his approach, one of the soldiers opened the door for him, and they went in, to find a platoon of twenty astonished city guards sitting and standing around long wooden tables. Torches lit the room. Some were eating, some reading, some chatting, a few stretched out on bunks that lined the walls.

They looked at their captain quizzically for a moment, and some rose when they noticed the frail body he carried. He pushed through them, heading for the baths.

Korra and Asami kept close behind, and Xue followed. The men gathered behind them as they passed through the room into the baths.

Hot springs from the mountain made natural pools in the room past the barracks. A couple of men who’d been relaxing in the steaming water scrambled for towels as Long Kuai entered, and blushed Fire Nation red when they saw the women, each trying to stand behind the other. Korra kept her eyes fixed on the ceiling, Asami carefully examined the floor, but Xue took little amused glances at the embarrassed soldiers.

Those two sprinted for the main room as soon as the women were behind them, and Long Kuai lowered Queen Daiyu into the bath. Korra stepped forward, and moving her arms in healing forms, the water began to glow with a dim blue light. Daiyu sighed, but didn’t wake.

“Will she be okay?” Asami asked, her voice worried.

“I don’t know,” Korra said. “She’s weak. I just don’t know exactly what to do. I can heal a wound or a burn, but I don’t know how to put back blood that isn’t there.”

Xue came over and took Asami’s hand. “I’m sorry I couldn’t stop Ming.”

Asami turned to her, surprised. “But you saved her. If you hadn’t been there, she’d be gone by now.”

“The Avatar saved her. I just… I don’t know.”

“You did your best,” Long Kuai assured her. “I’m proud of you.”

Xue bowed deeply and backed away, taking a seat at the edge of another pool.

The captain turned and left the baths. When he reentered the barracks, all the men were standing, waiting.

“Men,” Long Kuai announced, “You are soldiers of the ancient city of Omashu. That was your queen.”

Feet shuffled, but that was the only sound.

“There was an attempt on her life tonight. Some of you would rather see another on the throne; some would rather she recover. It does not matter. We are the guards, the soldiers of Omashu. Regardless who assumes authority over this kingdom in the morning, your duty will still be to protect the people.”

There was a murmur that rippled through the room, as the men absorbed this statement.

“There is no threat to Omashu from the outside. The gravest danger to our city is the conflict within our walls. For the rest of the night, you are dismissed. Go home to your families, to your loved ones. When the sun rises, we will return to see the direction our beloved Omashu will take. Choose from among yourselves a patrol to finish the night watch, and some to tell the other guard stations. The rest of you… go home.”

The men spoke in hushed tones to each other. Of course, the captain always knew exactly what to say, and despite which minister they each favored to become King, their loyalty to the captain was undiminished.

“You should be King,” one said. Several others voiced approval.

“No,” Long Kuai said. “I look forward to retiring. The burden of leadership should go to someone with the energy and desire to lead Omashu forward.”

“What about the traditions?” another asked.

“Observe them,” he said, plainly, “but don’t fear new growth. Even tall, old trees go through the cycles of the seasons, and grow new leaves. Omashu is coming into a springtime.”

He turned, and the men, surprised, drew straws for the patrol and the messengers, and then dispersed quietly.

Long Kuai returned to the baths to find the women anxiously regarding the queen, and he too looked at her, sighing. She was too young for this.

Outside, there was the sound of a man shouting for help, and the footsteps of the newly chosen patrol running past the barrack windows. Then they heard a great rumbling. Someone was earthbending nearby.

He ran a hand over his face. _I’m too old for this,_ he chuckled ruefully. The work was never done.

Then he heard screams.


	22. Coming Together, Coming Apart

"You okay?" Bolin asked the minister quietly.

Xin Ling heaved, though his stomach was long since empty. The world was spinning and his mouth was dry. He kept his eyes shut since the first he'd opened them this morning, sending a spike of pain into his head.

"No," the minister grumbled. He struggled to remember the night before. After a midday nap on Air Temple Island, he'd been so overwhelmed with the desire to get to Republic City that he made a plan for at least one night out. He'd begged the ferryman with his boatload of vegetables to take him there on his trip back across the bay. Once ashore, Xin Ling set out to have the time of his life.

He watched a mover for the first time, his eyes agog at the moving pictures up on the screen. The famous actress Ginger starred in a steamy romance, and he was determined he'd be getting lucky that night too. After the mover, he was recommended to the best restaurant: Kwong's Cuisine, they called it. He took a table and enjoyed the most expensive items on the menu —all with meat— along with several fruity beverages that helped him relax. He caught the second half of a pro-bending match, and was enthralled with the action, resolving to bring the sport to Omashu if he ever came out of his predicament. After that, he followed the players to a nightclub and struck up a conversation with some young women who laughingly agreed to teach him the latest dance moves. The drinks flowed, the place was a party, but much more he didn't really recall. The amber eyes and long hair of one lovely lady were the most that came to his mind, but whether he'd actually got anywhere with her was a mystery.

And then Xin Ling, Minister to the Queen of Omashu, awakened in a jail cell, a glaring overhead bulb putting nails through his eyes straight into his brain. He'd vomited into a bucket, and lay back down, too nauseous to sleep, but desperate to escape the hangover.

It wasn't until this overeager young policeman Bolin had gently shaken him and led him to a paddy wagon that he realized what a mistake he'd made. He was no longer under the protection of the Air Nomads, and the Republic City police were going to take him back to Omashu.

He'd puked on his shoes then.

"Is there anything I can do for you?" Bolin asked politely.

"Take me back to Air Temple Island," Xin Ling suggested sullenly.

"I'm sorry, but I'm under orders to take you to Omashu. But don't you worry. We'll take an airship and be there in a few hours."

"They're going to execute me."

"Oh, nooo! I mean... they wouldn't if..."

"They will. They think I'm a murderer. But I'm not! I didn't do it!" His voice rose, but the strain caused the blood in his head to surge.

"Don't worry. My friend Korra's there. She's not going to let that happen."

"Korra."

"You know, the Avatar. She's there now, in Omashu."

Xin Ling was puzzled.

"How do you know this?"

"Asami went with the trade delegation, and wherever Asami goes, Korra likes to go too."

"Asami?"

"Asami Sato. You know, like the Satomobile? Owner of Future Industries. They make all kinds of amazing things. Smartest lady you will ever meet in your life, and she's just…amazing. Not like my Opal, but man oh man she's so nice, and sweet, and kind…"

This buffoon was on a first-name basis with the Avatar and the owner of a company that made automobiles?

"How do you know the Avatar?" Xin Ling asked suspiciously.

"We used to be on the Fire Ferrets together. We're best friends. Part of the gang, part of the team."

"Fire… ferrets?"

"The pro-bending team. You have pro-bending in Omashu?"

"No." Xin Ling said flatly, but now he was intrigued. Somehow he'd retained enough luck to be returning to Omashu with someone who could influence the Avatar.

"Oh, it's the greatest! She stuck to water bending, since she's the Avatar and it wouldn't have been fair for her to use all the elements, but we almost won the world championships a few years back, except the Wolfbats cheated, and then Amon…"

Xin Ling interrupted. "You will help me find the Avatar?"

"Well, yeah, I guess so, if you want. I mean, I'm supposed to hand you over to the police there, or…or whatever you have. You have police in Omashu too, right?"

The minister was swept with another wave of nausea at the idea of being handed over to Long Kuai. He bent forward over his knees.

The old captain troubled him under the best of circumstances, but he knew that Long Kuai had been watching him. No matter how he protested, he was sure the old captain would never believe he was innocent, especially if he'd been spotted leaving the queen's chambers by bending through the floor.

"City guards. The soldiers."

"Cool, cool…" Bolin said uncomfortably.

"Please, to the Avatar," Xin Ling groaned. "Not to the guards."

"Well…" Bolin began.

"They'll crush me. Do you know how they execute people in Omashu?"

"Um… uh…"

"They'll put me in the bottom of a wooden pit, and fill it with rocks until I'm buried. And then they'll just walk away. You can't just hand me over."

"But I'm supposed to… uh…"

"I'll die if you don't let me talk to the Avatar!"

"Okay, okay!" Bolin cried. "I won't leave until we see Korra."

Xin Ling leaned back against the wall of the paddy wagon, grateful for its lack of windows. Bolin climbed in with him and sat across. There was a silence for a while as he pondered how he might turn this situation to his advantage. He would plead with the Avatar, insist on his innocence. He’d beg her for a fair trial, and she’d have to agree, lest she be seen as taking sides.

They arrived at the airship dock, where the trade delegation had just landed. Bolin nudged Xin Ling with his elbow as they waited at the gate.

“It looks like they’re back! That’s great news! You can talk to Korra right now!”

But as the two watched the relieved businessmen and their wives exiting, getting into cars, and driving away, Bolin became concerned that neither Asami nor Korra were among them.

Varrick and Zhu Li were last off the ship. Bolin waved vigorously, and Varrick had to tug on Zhu Li’s arm to get her to see it was their friend. She was determined to get back onboard.

“Where are Asami and Korra?”

“Still in Omashu!” Zhu Li snarled.

Varrick closed his eyes and sighed. “Zhu Li, please. At least let’s get a good night’s sleep and a couple of those mecha hummingbirds before we go back.”

Bolin looked at Xin Ling, who looked close to vomiting again.

Anxiously he turned to Varrick. “Everything’s okay, right? The trade talks went well?” He smiled nervously, gesturing with his head to the prisoner beside him.

“The trade talks went famously!” Varrick exclaimed. “Whoever wins the civil war will definitely be doing business with Varrick Global Industries. It’s a whole new market!”

Xin Ling retched.

“Who’s your...friend?” Varrick inquired.

“This is… uh… this is Xin Ling. But let’s back up. Civil war?”

“There was a riot when we landed, and they held us hostage for weeks! Terrible tension between the factions… I should write a new mover about it! Zhu Li?”

His wife scowled, but he continued.

“We managed to escape. The Avatar and Asami can handle things, I’m sure. And with all four Beifong ladies on the way I’d be surprised if everything weren’t already resolved and things running A-OK.”

“Whoa whoa whoa. Four?”

“The Chief, Suyin, Toph, and Opal. Oh, and Kya’s there too.”

“The Chief was following up a lead there, but how did Suyin..? And Toph? Toph Beifong? And my Opal? Why… how?”

“After we escaped, we headed straight for Zaofu,” Zhu Li answered. “I demanded that they send troops as peacekeepers, but the Matriarch refused. So they all decided to go as a diplomatic mission.”

“I’m confused. The Chief was in Zaofu? And Opal?”

“Well, Kya tried to heal all of them, but evidently nothing’s helped so far. But being blind hasn’t stopped Chief Beifong even a little. It’s kind of amazing, actually,” she said.

“Wait wait wait! The Chief is BLIND?”

“You didn’t know?”

“Mako just said she said she had a lead and was going to Omashu. She didn’t say anything about being blind!”

“Hmmm. Maybe she didn’t want you to worry.”

“Very confusing, that situation. Lin’s blind, Suyin can’t hear, and Toph Beifong can’t speak. I wonder how they’ll clear that up,” Varrick mused.

“What the…” Bolin was gobsmacked.

“Opal’s fine,” Varrick reassured him. “She’s gone along because she’s the bison pilot, and they thought a little air coverage might be a good idea.”

“It’s a good terrible idea! In the middle of a civil war? I...we...I have to go!”

Varrick laughed. “That’s what Zhu Li keeps saying, but I’d much rather let fighters do the fighting. But weren’t you on your way anyway?” 

Xin Ling looked at them with deep confusion. “Is the queen… all right?”

“Don’t know,” Varrick said. “She was when we left.”

“...but now we can’t be sure. So I think we need to get back and stop this before she gets hurt!” Zhu Li cried.

Bolin put a hand on Zhu Li’s shoulder. “I’m going. I promise I will do whatever I can to help. At least Varrick’s right about Asami and Korra. They can handle themselves, and Korra can probably help smooth things over. With all the Beifong women…”

“...and Kya…” Varrick interjected.

“...and Kya, I’m sure they’re well on their way to a peaceful resolution.”

Zhu Li dropped her shoulders and her face softened. “I guess you’re right.”

“But I think you should still come back to Omashu, and I think you should bring radios. I’m pretty sure the president would like to know what’s going on. And Mako. And Tenzin.”

Zhu Li looked at her husband expectantly.

“Hey, if somebody’s going to pay me for them, sure! Fine! We’ll bring the highest-powered radios we have in stock!”

* * *

At first there was just the sound of one man screaming, but then many more people. Long Kuai shot a glance to Korra, and she to Asami. Without a word, Asami gestured for Korra to go, and she and the White Lotus master raced outside.

The found a crowd filling the street, the citizens of the city awakened by the sound of fighting, hands holding candles, oil lamps, and a few torches. Some rushed to the captain.

“A hideous beast! Carrying an old woman in his jaws!”

“An evil spirit! The evil spirits are on us!”

“We’re doomed! We didn’t follow the traditions, and now the curses are coming!”

He gestured for calm, but the words “evil spirits” caused a ripple of panic among the people.

Korra put her hands skyward, and two huge jets of flame lit the street and the undersides of the chutes. “STOP!” she shouted.

People recoiled in fear, and many backed away, but the mob eased slightly at the light. 

She bent a pedestal up from under her feet. “Omashu! Evil spirits are NOT attacking you!”

“Then what was that monster?” someone shouted.

At that moment, Opal swooped down and landed in front of Korra.

“Opal! What are you doing here?”

“There was a monster,” she said. “It took Grandma Toph!”

Korra looked at Long Kuai in complete bafflement.

He stepped in, and she earthbent her stand back down into the ground. They came together close. “I’ll handle crowd control. Send Xue out. Find out what she’s talking about.”

“Mom and Aunt Lin are here, and Kya. Here they come,” Opal said, as the rest of them drew together into the circle.

Korra threw her arms around Kya. “Spirits! I can’t believe it! We need you!”

“Nice to see you too,” Kya laughed, “but are you okay? Is Asami?”

Without answering, she took Kya’s wrist and started pulling. “This way! No time to waste!”

They followed Korra back into the barracks, passing Xue as she went to assist her master. The crowd was confused now, but less panicked, as time passed and no new terrors presented themselves. She could hear Long Kuai speaking in a loud but calm voice to the people, and silently thanked the spirits for his presence.

Inside, she let go of Kya’s hand and bolted for the baths. “In here!”

Kya understood the second she saw Queen Daiyu in the water. She began to move, and the water glowed a bright blue.

“She lost a lot of blood,” Asami said.

“Good to know,” Kya said, low.

“I did my best, but I only know first aid, I guess,” Korra added, solemnly.

“She’s alive. You did fine.”

Asami noticed Lin and Suyin behind them. Opal came to her and embraced her.

“The whole family?”

“Grandma was… I don’t know… taken by a spirit or something.” Her eyes brimmed with tears.

Asami shook her head, and hugged Opal again.

Suyin could take no more. She asked, terrified, “Where’s Mom?”

Suddenly Opal pulled away, and pulled a pad of paper out of her suit. She began scribbling, tore off the note, and handed it to her mother.

Suyin read it, and she looked up in horror. She turned to Lin, who wrapped her in her arms, and began to sob.

“What’s...going on?” Korra asked, finally.

Lin answered. “I’ve gone blind, Suyin’s gone deaf, and Mom can’t speak. And Opal says a huge beast took Mom, ran up the street, and vanished.”

Asami gasped, and Korra cocked her head in astonished confusion.

“A spirit?”

“It’s possible,” Kya said, not turning from her work. “My uncle Sokka was once taken by a spirit named Hei Bai. Dad went into the spirit world for the first time then.”

“Why?”

“Your guess is as good as ours,” Lin croaked. She was struggling with tears herself.

There was a long moment of silence, as Asami and Korra tried to comprehend this news.

Kya completed her form, and drew down her qi, closing the pose. She turned back to the rest of the women. “I’ve done what I can. You did save her, Korra. She was very close to death. She’s rebuilding blood now, but I sense there’s another problem. We need to keep an eye on her. We’ll know by morning.”

“Another problem,” Lin grumbled.

“She’s pregnant. I don’t know if she’ll be able to keep from miscarrying.”

* * *

Ren Chong stood in the circle of ministers, ceremoniously arranged, all equal to each other, at least for the moment. This was the time of choosing a king.

“My fellow ministers,” he said, as they settled into their places, “I bear sad news even as we gather for this momentous occasion. As I came to be here with you, I sought out our eldest, Minister Ming, to assist him in joining us. It is with great sorrow that I announce that he has succumbed to his wounds in today’s attack on him and our queen.”

“The Avatar healed him,” a stout older minister retorted. “He was unconscious, but stable when he was taken to his chambers.” He looked Ren Chong in the eye with a withering glare. “Were you not aware of this?”

The glare was coldly reflected. “I was, esteemed Minister Chao. Perhaps he seemed stable, but he was quite dead when I arrived to meet him.”

“You know no more of the cause?” Chao challenged.

“No more than you,” he replied.

“How...inconvenient,” Chao said his voice heavy with sarcasm, “for you.”

“Do not make light of the death of our eldest, esteemed Minister. All of us will one day meet that fate. I humbly submit that you should beg the spirits you will last as long as he.”

“Is this not premature?” Chao went on. “You called this meeting, but we don’t know if the queen is actually deceased, either. Or was she passed when you went to see her too?”

Ren Chong began to sweat. This was the tricky part. 

“I have eyewitness testimony of her death. A young boy, Shin, son of the palace guard, Shu, followed the culprit and the Avatar to a location under the city where they battled. At its end, Guard Shu escorted the Avatar to the captain of the guard, and the assassin’s body lies in the caverns below. I can produce the remains, if that is necessary, though her Highness is not yet… prepared for viewing.” He said this last slowly and deliberately.

Ministers shifted uncomfortably. 

“There ought to be a state funeral for the queen, should there not?” Chao said, at last.

“These matters can be worked out in morning’s light, once we have chosen her successor. It is not our tradition to delay without choosing him.”

Chao huffed, but said no more. He was as eager to compete for the crown as Ren Chong.

Each minister held a candle, and the lamps in the chamber were put out. The youngest minister held one that was lit. He seemed annoyed… this duty was supposed to go to Xin Ling..

From the youngest to the eldest, each minister took their turn, lighting their candle from the one before them. Each placed his flame, one by one, at the feet of the minister he desired to lead. Some put their candle at their own feet, more placed theirs at the feet of Minister Chao. Many placed the brass candlestick in front of Ren Chong, and when all were down, the few who had only one moved theirs to his feet as well, giving him a narrow victory.

None of the men smiled. None was happy for this outcome: even among those who supported him, they feared his retribution had they voted otherwise. Even if Chao were to have been crowned, who knew what accidents might befall them? Without evidence, none could condemn him.

Ren Chong allowed himself a smirk then, the rings on his fingers glittering in the collection of lights below.

* * *

Shin awoke with a cry. The queen, covered in blood. The Avatar, her eyes alight with power, dust swirling, her voice unnatural.

His father was there, standing over his bed. He slapped Shin.

“Shut up, boy. Quit screaming like a girl. Listen. If a woman can bend metal, so can you. Help me get this off. Concentrate!”

Shu presented the circlets on his wrists. The two used all their faculties, struggling to budge the iron.

“The evil spirits are in the city, boy. I told you, if we don’t hold to Omashu’s traditions, we’ll be cursed.”

Shin’s eyes were saucers.

“I saw it. Like a fox. With nine tails. Caught an old woman in its mouth and disappeared.”

The two of them concentrated with all their might on bending the iron away from Shu’s hands, but nothing worked. 

Finally, in despair, Shu told him, “Get the knife. Better to get out of Omashu with one hand than face the wrath of the spirits.”

Out the window, the pale light of morning was growing over the mountains, reflecting down onto the low street. The clouds were gone. The sky was pure and clear.

_ Pure. Metal is pure earth, _ Shin thought.

He went back to his father, squared his thin shoulders, and moved his hands around the cuffs. They cracked.

He regarded his father, stinking, beaten and dirty. His father hadn’t been able to bend metal, but he had.

“You can leave if you want, but I’m staying. I’m not afraid of anything anymore.”


	23. Being Wrong

Toph was losing consciousness. She’d been standing on the plaza, ready to take on those Omashu losers, when she’d felt herself leave the earth and her body held between sharp teeth. There had been nothing like it since she’d given birth to Lin, a tearing, ceaseless, inescapable pain. And whatever it was that had her between its teeth held her while it ran, bounding, each landing on the ground a jolt that was like being stabbed. 

And then the beast had stopped running, and shook her like a dog shakes a rat. Her bones snapped, and that was where her mind stopped processing the agony.

There was a thud, and she realized she’d been dropped on the earth. Distantly she heard yelling, a woman’s voice, but it was fading even as she puzzled where she’d heard it before.

A cottony sensation came over her senses, over her thoughts. She wondered if this was death coming, and she felt a peace settle over her; well, almost.  _ I love you, Lin and Suyin,  _ she reached out with her thoughts, toward her daughters, and the impression of them lingered for a moment.

Suddenly she was wet and cold. The pain surged back, but not for long, as she could feel her bones knitting and her wounds closing. Where the gashes had been the skin was warm and prickly. Inside her limbs and torso she felt a buzzing, like spiderflies weaving. It was the strangest, creepiest thing she’d ever felt in her many years.

At last, she was gently laid down on something soft, and the water drawn off her and out of her clothing. A hand touched her cheek.

“Toph?”

She shook her head, to clear the cotton, and concentrated a moment. “Katara!” she mouthed, but her tongue was still frozen and her voice lost. A gasp was all that came from her throat.

“Are you all right?”

Toph nodded vigorously. She was shaken, and somewhat weak, but she felt glorious. The pain of her wounds was gone, and so also were the aches and pains of age. She started to rise, getting up onto her elbows, but felt her friend’s gentle hand on her shoulder.

“Uh uh…” Katara said. “You lost some blood, and that was a lot of healing you just went through. Take it easy.”

A little frown passed over her brow, and she put a hand to her throat, and pointed at her mouth.

“Lost your voice?”

More nodding.

“Here, let me see.” Again, cold water was put around her throat, and she could feel the energy pass from the water into her, searching. 

“Strange… I feel a blockage in your qi. It’s weird.”

Toph nodded again, more slowly this time. Then she shook her head sadly.

“What is it?”

The earthbender lay back on the soft grass and sighed. She spread her hands apart.

“I don’t get it.”

No, of course she wouldn’t. Toph still had no way to communicate except with sculptures molded from the earth, and a wave of fatigue swept over her. Her arms lowered, and she put them behind her head. They appeared to be on a sloping stretch of land, and they were near a body of water. The vibrations, now that she was able to sense them, indicated a large body… a sea of some sort.

“It’s the craziest coincidence, finding you here,” she heard Katara wonder. “And what was that thing?”

“Sometimes the spirit world brings you where you need to be,” another voice said softly.

Toph bolted upright and put her palms to the earth, searching. Where did the voice come from?

“Oh, sorry,” Katara said. “This is my friend, Miss Fancyfeathers. She’s a dragon.”

A moment later Toph sensed the beast land nearby, a puff from its wings pushing the hair away from her face. It was large, but not much more than Appa had been. 

The spirit world? What was she doing in the spirit world? She raised her arms and gestured all around, and then shrugged.

Katara understood this, at least. “Do you know how you got here? Did that thing bring you?”

“That  _ thing _ was Juweihu, the Nine-tailed Fox,” the dragon explained.

How could she possibly explain how she got here when she didn’t understand any of it? Frustration at the inability to speak was rising fast, and she pounded the ground with her fists. It caused a slight earthquake, and small stones tumbled down the slope toward them. She regretted this immediately, and rapidly pulled up a wall behind the three of them. But then she had to lie back again, breathing hard.

“What distresses you, human?” the dragon asked.

“There’s something blocking her ability to speak, I think,” Katara said.

Toph nodded just a little.

“Did Juweihu curse you?”

Toph shrugged. Something had cursed her, but she had no way of knowing whether the spirit in the swamp was this fox-thingy.

“It was trying to kill her!” Katara cried.

“Juweihu is… unpredictable. It seems to derive enjoyment from interfering in the lives of others. It is older than I, but elder dragons tell of a time before the humans appeared when Juweihu would play tricks on them. That did not please any but Juweihu, and eventually the spirits drove him away. Now it spends its time meddling in the lives of the humans.”

Toph covered her face with her hands, fighting tears. This would explain much, but now the way to remove the curse seemed farther away than ever. She’d believed it was how she’d failed to communicate her feelings, her love for her children and how she’d lost Sokka without telling him... and now...now it was just a joke? A practical joke on her?

No. That couldn’t be it. Why would it try to kill her? It had to have been a different spirit. The spirit in the spring said it would have helped her learn how to use the vines. It was she who’d been messing with it, not the other way around. She’d made it angry, and it was teaching her a lesson. She was the one who’d been wrong.

“Maybe we should get you home,” Katara offered, gently.

Toph shook her head violently. She still needed to be there for Lin and Suyin in Omashu. She stood, shakily, and felt Katara’s hand on her arm to steady her.

After a moment, her balance returned, and she stepped out onto a place that felt something like sand, but not quite. She reached down and picked up a handful.

“Where are we, anyway?” the waterbender asked.

“Master Katara, this is the Sea of Tears. This is where all the tears we do not weep wait their turn to fall.”

“Yikes.”

Toph smelled the sea nearby. She was standing on salt, not sand. How many of those tears were hers, that she fought so hard to keep from falling?

But not now. She had to get back. She had to tell her daughters how she loved them, if there were any hope at all of lifting this curse.

With a stomp and a thrust of her arms, fingers splayed, she bent the crystals into a model of the city of Omashu, with its sharply pointed peaks, its chutes and layered streets, the high wall and the gate that opened onto it.

“Omashu?” Katara said, curious.

Toph nodded decisively.

“We haven’t been to Omashu yet, have we, Miss Fancyfeathers?”

“I do not recall, Master Katara. The cities of the human world are starting to look alike to me.”

“Ah, then you’ll enjoy this,” she replied.

Toph shook her head. They would not enjoy what they would find in Omashu, but that was far too complicated to explain. Better they come and see it for themselves.

She hoped she was wrong about this.

* * *

 

The old captain and his student returned to the barracks as dawn broke. The people of the city were back in their homes, frightened and only slightly mollified by the explanation that the beast was after a stranger in their city. Traditions would protect them, he said, now unsure if those words weren’t actually true.

He was ashamed. The spirit under whose tutelage he’d learned to influence others had taken an old woman into the spirit world by force… and evidently she was a friend of the Avatar’s. This spirit couldn’t be trusted, and he wished heartily that he had trusted his own discomfort when Juweihu had pushed him to reach further into people’s minds.

And in a sense, the traditionalists had been right. Evil spirits did threaten Omashu… or at least this one powerful spirit did. 

Inside the barracks, he found the women asleep, except for the waterbender. She was still watching over the young queen. He’d gambled with Daiyu’s life too, waiting too long before setting events in motion. He should have been there himself, guarding her; perhaps then she might have escaped injury. Ming’s mind was unstable, and he knew it, because he’d heard his thoughts, incomprehensible and rambling. He should have seen this coming.

“How is she?” Xue asked Kya, in a hushed voice.

“Resting easily. She should be past the worst now. I hope she wakes soon.”

“We are grateful for your help,” Long Kuai said, and bowed.

“She’s our friend,” Kya answered, “and it’s what I do. I couldn’t just stand by.”

“You helped us through the plague, as well. I wish that we had done better to follow your example. Perhaps we would not be in these straits now.”

Korra stirred and rose, rubbing sleep from her eyes.

“Sifu Kuai, do you know Kya?”

“Not formally, no,” he said. He turned back to Kya and bowed again. “I am Long Kuai, captain of the guard of Omashu. This is my pupil, Xue. We are members of the Order of the White Lotus, and once upon a time I was the Avatar’s earthbending master.”

Kya laughed. “Let me guess… she hardly needed training.”

“Indeed,” he chuckled. “But finesse takes time. Korra’s power is great and natural, but to listen and to wait was difficult for her.”

“Hey!” Korra objected, but she grinned.

“And your companion is here too,” Long Kuai observed.

“Yes, you remember Lin. It was her suggestion that Queen Daiyu add some women to her circle of ministers. I guess that didn’t go so well?”

The captain closed his eyes and his brow furrowed. “I failed to protect her.”

An awkward silence ensued. 

Xue spoke up. “Master Kuai. You did all you could. You can’t be everywhere. We had a good plan. It’s just that Minister Ming went crazy. Nobody expected the trade group to escape, and that was his last straw. I couldn’t believe my eyes when he got out that knife and stabbed the Queen. He moved so fast! And I never suspected that he would do such a thing! He seemed like such a nice old man!”

Asami and Lin, hearing voices, also awoke.

“You can’t blame yourself for what others do,” Asami assured him.

Lin put a hand up. “I think it’s time you catch us up on the situation here.” She touched Opal, who was awake in seconds, and reached for Suyin. Su shrugged her off.

“Let her rest,” Opal said. “I’ll write it down.”

“A lot seems to have happened, and something tells me we’re not through the worst of this yet. Last I heard, Xin Ling was responsible for the murder of the ministers. He’s holed up on Air Temple Island until the death penalty is taken off the table. So there’s a Minister named Ming who attacked the queen? Is Xin Ling innocent?”

“Yes,” Asami said. “He was… with...the queen on the night of the murders.”

They were all silent a moment.

“What’s the matter?” Xue asked.

“The queen is pregnant,” Kya said, matter-of-factly. “If that’s true, then Xin Ling is her child’s father.”

Long Kuai drew a heavy sigh. He’d never suspected Xin Ling of being the queen’s lover. He was too… well, worthless. Everyone in Omashu was shocked when he’d fled after the murders. No one believed the man had had the nerve to do it. Long Kuai hadn’t even used the skills he’d learned from Juweihu to read Xin Ling before he left, but once fled, the captain was as astonished as anyone.

It did explain how he was always nervous around the old captain. It was as though the young minister could sense Long Kuai’s low opinion of him, but avoided him rather than using his status to intimidate him. 

Xue said, softly, “I didn’t think he had the guts. I knew he didn’t murder the queen’s aunts, but this is a surprise.”

Long Kuai looked at his student with alarm. “How do you know he didn’t? Who did?”

“He was in the wrong place at the wrong time. I saw him in the hallway above the queen’s chambers the night they were attacked. I didn’t know why he was there, but the hour was about the same as when they were killed.”

“Do you know who did?” he pressed.

“I think Minister Ming did.”

Korra was puzzled. “Minister Ming? Was that the guy I saved before Asami and I chased you down to that room?”

“Yes. I wrestled the knife from him and drove him off before I took the queen down. I… Wait. He’s alive?” She brightened considerably. “I didn’t kill him?”

“Nope! He was alive when we left. We told the others in the banquet hall to take care of him. That’s why you had such a good head start on us.”

Xue was smiling now. “I didn’t kill him,” she repeated, her relief evident.

Long Kuai put his arm around her shoulders. “It’s a hard thing, to take a life. You defended the queen, and your actions were justified, but I’m glad that you don’t have that weight on your conscience any longer.” 

“Does this mean that the queen is out of danger? Once we secure Ming, who else is a threat?” Lin asked.

“The one who stands to gain the most from the queen’s death is Ren Chong,” the captain said. “He’s the most powerful of the ministers, and likely has been selected by his peers to succeed. It’s possible that Chao was able to outmaneuver him, but I don’t expect it.”

“Already?” Asami asked.

“They think the queen is dead, and it’s Omashu’s tradition for the ministers to select a new ruler at midnight following the death,” Long Kuai said.

“Ren Chong knew I was with the queen, but he did say he’d ‘think of something’ when Shin’s father brought me to him,” Korra added.

“You heard this?” Lin questioned.

“I set myself up to be captured, because I knew Long Kuai would help us. At least, I knew the White Lotus was here.” Korra laughed. “It’s been a busy night. I didn’t expect to be knocked out, but I woke up when that guard brought me to him. It was hard to pretend to be unconscious, because he stunk so badly, but I got to listen in on their plans.”

“Ahh! That guy!”

“Yeah, that guy needs… I don’t know what.”

“Omashu’s laws will decide that,” Long Kuai said, but he knew that was a half-truth. If Ren Chong had seized power, Ren Chong would  _ be _ the law deciding the fates of everyone in Omashu. Long Kuai wished he didn’t know what he knew, so that he could at least be hopeful. Chao might have been a decent king, though not much better than average; but his inability to see into Ren Chong’s mind made him more dangerous.

After a pause, Opal looked up from her notes, and asked the group, “What about Grandma?”

“Are you all right, Sifu Kuai?” Korra put a hand on his arm. The old captain looked as though he’d aged overnight.

“No,” he admitted. “The creature that took your grandmother. You said it had many tails?”

“It looked like a dog or a fox or something, but yes, with more tails.”

He sighed, and looked at the palms of his hands.

“That is Juweihu. It’s a spirit.”

Lin leaned forward, a scowl forming. “This spirit knows  _ you, _ doesn’t it? And that’s bothering you.”

Startled, his eyes opened wide. “Yes.”

“What?” Opal cried. “How do you know this spirit?” She stood up, angrily, and her fists were tight, arms stiff at her sides.

“I… Sometimes… The White Lotus…”

“What did you DO?!”

“No! Listen, I am so sorry! The White Lotus has long practiced meditation and each hopes to visit the spirit world. I was able to do it, and Juweihu found me there. It promised to teach me how to see into the minds of others. I thought I could help Omashu move out of this crisis if I knew what the ministers were thinking. But then it showed me how to influence them, and I knew that wasn’t right.”

“Did you call it here?” Lin demanded.

“No! No! It’s just a coincidence! I just meant that as soon as I heard what the spirit looked like, I knew that I’d been fooled, and used by an evil spirit. I don’t know why it took your grandmother, but now I know I was wrong to trust it.”

“How are we supposed to trust  _ you _ now?” she snarled.

Korra came to his defense. “Lin, it used him. He was trying to help, and didn’t know what this spirit was up to. Wouldn’t you like to know what people are thinking sometimes?”

She turned to the side, and crossed her arms grumpily.

Korra turned to her old master. “Did you mean for this to happen?”

“No,” he said sorrowfully. Lin shifted on her bunk.

“He’s telling the truth, isn’t he?” Opal asked. Her voice was shaking.

Lin hmpfed, which was as far as she was willing to go.

Korra looked quizzically at Lin. “Are you a truthseer now?”

Now Lin’s face eased slightly. “Not everything about being blind is a bad thing, Avatar. It’s been quite the… eye-opening experience.” Kya smothered a chuckle.

Asami realized the implications. “You can see with seismic sense, like your mother,” she said in wonder.

Long Kuai blanched. “Your mother? So that means…”

“That fox spirit took Toph Beifong. Yes. I‘m Lin Beifong, her daughter.”

He rose from his chair and bowed very formally. “I was not aware of the honor when we met the first time. It was she who taught me the art of metalbending.”

Lin was not swayed by this deference. Her scowl was fixed, and her arms remained crossed.

Long Kuai straightened. “I will fight the spirit, and bring her back to you.”

Lin growled. “Nice try, but your pointless death won’t solve anything for anyone. I wish we had a damned radio. Tenzin might be able to tell us something about this spirit.”

“Mom?”

Everyone turned, startled, to see Suyin sitting up in the bunk, her hands on her ears.

She looked at them in dismay. “Did you hear that?”

Opal flew to her side. “Mom? You can hear?”

Suyin did not respond immediately, but turned her face to Opal and gestured for her to speak again.

“Mom? Is your hearing back?”

Su frowned, confused. “I can’t hear you, but I swear I just heard Mom say ‘I love you, Lin and Suyin.’”

Lin leapt up. “Did she say anything else? Can you still hear her?”

“Maybe she was dreaming,” Asami suggested cautiously.

Opal wrote out the question, and Suyin shook her head. “No. That was all I heard. I’ve been awake since you shook my shoulder, but I was just lying here thinking, when suddenly I heard her voice. I swear!”

* * *

 

The new King of Omashu. He couldn’t sleep.

After the council with the other ministers, he ordered them to arrange the announcement to the city, for posters to be printed with the news, and criers to begin when the sun came over the mountains. Then he told Minister Chao he was in charge of the ceremony for his coronation, no later than midday. Chao bowed deeply, but his face was murderous.

The rings on his fingers were loose. King Bumi must have had bigger hands than he. Carefully he removed them before bed, and put them in his bedside drawer, next to the empty vial he’d taken to Ming’s chambers.

It was so exciting, to have his ambitions fulfilled so completely. The only thing troubling him now was being certain about the queen’s death, and the possibility that someone might actually go under the city to search for the assassin’s body.

Finding another body to place in the caves wasn’t an issue… the guard Shu would slit anyone’s throat for a hundred yuans, and there were several he might do for less. And finding a guard to end Shu would be easy enough, as well. But the queen’s body. Chao wanted to see it; how hard would he press?

Putting him in charge of the ceremony would keep him occupied until at least midday. With this task he had almost no one he could trust… he had to go down to the chamber himself and see if she was still there.

He hadn’t had time to think about what to do if the Avatar had saved her. All this hinged on the Captain of the Guard. If he’d done his duty, and kept the Avatar for questioning, Queen Daiyu would likely have bled out and died during the early morning hours. Miss Sato would be down there with her, but what would she do if the queen did die? What would the Avatar do if Long Kuai had released her before now, or went with her to the chamber to see for himself?

He couldn’t stay here in bed. He had to address this. As good as it was to be chosen as the new king, he was wrong to have been so eager. This loose end was too loose.

Ren Chong took another two vials with him, and a mask to cover his mouth and nose. Poured together it would make a deadly gas to choke anyone waiting there.

And if they were gone? And the queen with them? It seemed impossible that she’d survived the night. Maybe he could claim that her loyalists took the body to discredit him… it might stall them long enough for him to be crowned, and once that was done, his word would be law.

He could not afford to be wrong about this.

* * *

 

Xin Ling looked out the airship window despondently.

“We’re almost there,” Bolin reassured him.

He did not answer. He’d been a fool. Leaving Daiyu after her aunts had been murdered had left her open to all the other plots against her. He hadn’t paid enough attention to what the other ministers were up to, since he was confident that he’d eventually be married to her. Ming was demented, but he was too old to worry about. 

But he hadn’t foreseen the death of her aunts, hadn’t been able to help her grieve or plan any strategy to defend against those plots. If he’d stayed, she probably would have wanted to protect him. Even told the Captain to mind his business.

But he didn’t. He ran, like a coward.

The truth was, she was a good kid, and great in bed, and his best hope to be king. That was shattered once he’d run.

If she were still alive, he’d beg her forgiveness. Explain his fear of them being caught by the Captain, explain how he thought he’d be next, and hope for the best.

If she were dead… well… he’d have to think fast about who to suck up to. Who would be the new king? Chao? He admired that guy. Capable. Ren Chong? Scary. He hoped it wouldn’t be Ren Chong. But if it were? Well… ass kissing was part of a minister’s job, really, wasn’t it?

He hoped he was not wrong about this.

* * *

 

Dawn was giving way to day. Shin climbed to the very peak of the city, carrying the lump of iron from his father’s cuffs with him.

There was a lot to think about.

He wasn’t afraid anymore. That was true. But everything else? Nothing made sense.

His father had always been hard and strong, but he’d hurt his mother. But his mother had to know her place. Who was wrong?

Long Kuai had always been kinder and taught him more than his father had. But now Long Kuai said he’d been acting like a criminal. Did he not know that he only stole from rich people on the higher streets of Omashu, the ones who made fun of his clothes, and got to go to school, and treated his family like dirt? Who was wrong?

Long Kuai had learned metalbending from a woman. A woman who fought King Bumi to a draw? Was that possible? Was he wrong? But he’d seen it with his own eyes, and he’d never known the captain to lie.

The Avatar.

She’d said that half of all the avatars had been women. That Kyoshi, the earthbender, had lived the longest, and was a woman.

Why would the spirits give such power to a woman? All his life he’d been told they were the weaker sex. Women who were earthbenders in Omashu didn’t fight, that he knew of. They used their skills for farming and making pottery and things like that. They lived to serve men. Was that wrong?

Were they weaker, really? His mother had survived all the beatings his father had given, but was able to go on day to day, doing everything they needed to live comfortably. He’d seen his sisters be born… she’d been in terrible pain during their births, but was up and running the house like always in just a few days. But his father was ready to run. So scared he was willing to lose his hand just to get away.

This didn’t make sense. Who was wrong?

He played with the lump of metal, making it soft, stretching it, pulling it thin, making it separate into globules and reforming them. He pushed and pulled at this purest earth, but as soon as he released it, it was stiff and solid once again. He formed it into a knife, and the edge was keener than any he’d ever handled, drawing blood from his thumb with just a touch.

Shin watched his own shadow sink as the sun rose.

He wasn’t afraid of anything. The Avatar could take bending away. Was he wrong not to fear her?

No. He wasn’t wrong. He couldn’t be.

Nobody was going to push him around ever again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long. Finishing it was really hard.


	24. Early Morning

The predictability of human behavior, the patterns of outcomes the ancient one knew, were usually so reliable that even with its occasional intervention, it could tell what would occur. 

Indeed, humans were so very predictable that intervention was its chief entertainment. How does an entity endure immortality, unless through the manipulation of events into some new form? Nature had its balance. No matter how hard it pushed the scales, eventually it would balance itself, after its back and forth. The ripples of a stone thrown in a pond were more interesting than a flat surface that reflected nothing.

This time, it had pushed the scales unexpectedly hard. It was caught in the ripples of the stone it had tossed.

The old human with the enormous qi had not come grovelling. This was astonishing by itself, but it seemed that this human was more determined than ever to defy it. If it were not for its ability to see her through the vines, the ancient one might have thought that she were unaffected by its curse. It knew that in dark hours she wept, but somehow that was not enough to break her. It had begun to wonder if anything would.

It had been enjoyable, however, to snatch her in the human city, and see the reactions of the others there. They were suitably terrified to have glimpsed its form, and the years that it had been leaving ideas in the minds of their leaders were paying off in a great sense of satisfaction. The people in that city  _ did _ fear the spirits, and rightfully so.

The Avatar was there, on the other hand, so it could not afford to be seen for long; Raava was one of the spirits that had driven it away from the spirit world. 

But now, now! Again, to have been driven off! by a hatchling dragon and another human! What was wrong? How could these things be happening? All these things fit none of the patterns of outcomes! 

It knew that the old human was alive, in spite of its handling of her fragile body. The other old human had saved her. For the first time in many aeons, it felt fear. The ancient one could put its thumb on the scales, enjoy watching the effects of its interventions, but not since that age when the other spirits had driven it into the roots of the Tree of Time had it felt that there might be unwanted consequences upon itself.

This was no longer amusing. Humans never learn, it had thought… or did they?

When did that happen?

Where...Where did that boulder in the spring come from?

* * *

 

“Why are you all looking at me like that? I know I heard her!”

“I believe you,” Lin replied, sitting down next to her on the bunk. She reached out to Opal, who handed her the sheaf of notes of their conversation, and Lin passed them on.

“But we didn’t hear anything, and Suyin has been deaf for days now. Could it have been a hallucination?” Asami asked, as Suyin was reading to catch up.

“All bets are off with spirits involved,” Korra shook her head. “This curse has everything to do with communication. Lin’s able to see in a new way. Maybe Su can hear in a new way.”

Su made an angry noise in her throat as she read Long Kuai’s confession of having been involved with the spirit who’d taken Toph. 

Long Kuai stroked his beard. “Maybe I can teach what Juweihu taught me to her, and she can reach out to her mother.”

“Do you think you could do that? How does it work?” Korra asked hopefully.

“It’s like bending, but not like bending. It uses a different kind of energy. Instead of reaching out, you have to open up, and concentrate on bringing in the thoughts of another. Where with bending, there is the yang qi, reaching out, and the yin qi, flowing in… this is more like yin qi, but extending it outside the mind.”

Kya whistled appreciatively. “That’s subtle.”

“Spiritual matters are sometimes difficult for earthbenders, so it took me quite a while to understand. It’s grey, where yin and yang are more black and white.”

Korra and Kya exchanged a quick smirk. Lin was definitely too earthbender to manage it. But Suyin?

“Unfortunately, I’ve only been able to do this while meditating deeply, in the spirit world. Will she be able to enter with me?”

Korra took the paper and wrote out the question:  _ Long Kuai thinks he can show you how to reach out to your mom with the technique he learned from the spirit. Do you think it’s possible for you to enter the spirit world with him through meditation? _

Suyin read the question and her face pinched in anger and despair. “Are you serious? I’ve never been in the spirit world! I can hardly concentrate on anything! We haven’t slept, every bit of me hurts from head to toe, and he wants to teach me some ‘technique’ that he learned from the monster that stole my mother?!”

Kya remembered with a touch of shame that she’d not yet done anything to address Suyin’s depression. “Lin, have her come with me.”

Lin took Suyin’s hand, and pulled her up in Kya’s direction, as Kya headed back toward the baths. Su took the hint, and followed along.

“Do I...do I just get in?”

Kya guided her into the water, clothing and all, and had her lie back. She mouthed, “Try to relax.”

Suyin took a deep breath, and released it slowly, sinking into the hot spring water. Kya began moving, and again the water glowed with her healing. Su’s eyes closed as she felt the gentle pull of the waterbending on the qi in her own body. Her muscles softened and the aches receded, and it was not long before she felt a sort of euphoria. Her thoughts quieted, and in her chest she felt a release, as though a too-tight belt had been removed.

She drifted on the edge of sleep, and floated on the surface of the spring. Somewhere in her mind she imagined a shining form, white but flashing with color, speeding through a pink sky.  _ What a strange thing! _

The image persisted, growing clearer. It resolved itself in her thoughts, and she saw wings and a long neck, and a flowing tail. It was… it was a dragon. The dragon was flying, iridescent feathers ruffling in the wind, and it had riders, one in blue and one in green. She was curious, but so tranquil in the relief of her pain and the release of her energies that she did not strain after the image. Even so, the vision grew closer. Suddenly she realized that one of the riders on this dragon was her mother! And the woman in blue, with the white hair? That must be Katara!

Her eyes opened, and she caught Kya’s eyes. Her voice was hushed. “I saw Mom! On a dragon! With Katara!”

She did not hear Kya respond, but saw Kya turn to Lin, her body language relaying excitement. 

She closed her eyes again, eager to see more, but the vision was gone. But instead of the sadness such a thing might have caused even an hour before, she was peaceful. Hope filled her.

“They’re on their way,” she said.

* * *

Dutifully, guards returned to the barracks as morning light broke on the inside of the great city wall. Long Kuai received the report that posters were up, announcing the crowning ceremony for midday. Ren Chong had been selected, which did not surprise him. The minister had gambled on the queen’s death; she was in as much danger now as she was last night. If Ren Chong knew that she’d survived, he would be under great pressure to keep her unseen until after he was crowned. Afterward he might have enough support to retain the throne, but until that moment her return would undo everything for him.

Rather than answer questions from the guards about the queen’s condition, he ordered them to assume patrols consistent with the coronation crowds. Some wanted to know about the beast, and he told them what he’d told the citizens, that it had been after someone who was not from Omashu. The beast was not to be a concern for them, as long as they followed their orders.

Those orders were delivered with a commanding tone and confidence he did not feel. He saw the skepticism and fear lingering in their faces, even as they assembled their detachments and went back out into the city. He dared not show that he was as afraid of the next few hours as they were. 

Korra watched her former master carefully. When the guards were off about their duties, she pulled him aside.

“What now? Do we bring the queen out to the ceremony?”

“She’s in great danger. We don’t know where Ren Chong is, but we do know that he’s unsure if she’s dead. He’ll want to be sure. Most likely he’ll try to find her body, starting with the last place anyone saw her, which was down in the White Lotus room.”

“Does he know where that is? Wasn’t it a secret room?”

Opal said, “Right now there’s a hole blown through the wall. It’s daylight. Anyone could find it.”

“Are we too close here at the barracks, then?” Korra asked.

“Possibly.”

“What do we do if she’s not conscious by the time of the coronation?” Asami asked.

They were all silent. 

* * *

Kya was exhausted. While others had slept, she’d been watching over Daiyu. Su was out of the baths, her clothing dried by bending the water away. With everyone else awake now, she went to a bunk and lay down to shut her eyes for a while. Let Su and Lin explain the vision to them, she thought.

Lin curled up behind her on the narrow bed.

“Lin, please. I’m so tired,” she protested.

“I know, I know.” She stroked Kya’s hair gently.

The warmth of Lin’s body snug against her was a comfort, and the caress of her hair helped her drift into a light doze. 

She dreamed of rumbling and flying stones, Ming-Hua waterbending furiously, Ghazan’s lava approaching. She dreamed of the plague in Omashu, the thousands of people, flushed with fever, pale with disease, stumbling toward her in unending waves, wanting healing, draining her spirit. The blue glow of healing, feeling herself pour out, pouring out into everyone, into Lin, bruised and broken, crushed by bloodbending. She dreamed of a gash opening, and blood flowing out, red oozing through her fingers, and in her hands suddenly an infant, eyes open but dull and unseeing, with tiny hands, grasping her dress, pulling. The child was soundless, and its head lolled. It was dead.

She jerked awake.

“Kya?” Lin whispered, concerned.

She drew a shuddering breath. “Nightmare.”

Lin said nothing, but with the lightest fingers traced lines down her arm.

Kya sighed. Sleep was going to be tough after that one. Her heart pounded for a little longer, and she breathed deep to control it.

Lin’s soft touch helped. She put her arm around Kya and pulled her tighter, banishing the unpleasant images. Her breath was on the back of her neck, on her shoulder. 

“She’s gonna lose it,” she whispered.

“The baby?”

“Yeah.”

Lin now sighed as well, very deeply, and adjusted herself to touch Kya all along her body’s length. From the way she was breathing, Kya realized, she was trying not to weep.

* * *

Daiyu woke. Asami noticed her moving weakly in the bath, and rushed to her side.

“Why am I all wet?” the girl asked. She sounded no more than a child, her voice high and quiet.

Asami touched her face, gently. “You were wounded. Korra and Kya used their waterbending to heal you.”

Queen Daiyu closed her eyes, and she tried to sit up, but did not have the strength.

“Korra!” Asami called. “Come help me.”

Korra used her waterbending to lift Daiyu out of the bath, and Asami carried her to one of the bunks. 

“What’s happening?”

“You were hurt,” Asami told her. “But for now you’re safe.”

“Asami?”

“Yes, it’s me.”

“I feel terrible.”

Asami smiled at her. “I’m not surprised. You lost a lot of blood.”

Korra came near. “Queen Daiyu? Are you okay?”

She frowned. “I’m really dizzy, and… I just don’t feel good. What happened?”

“You were attacked by Minister Ming. Do you remember that?”

“No,” she said, a tear sliding down the side of her face. “Why? Why would he do that?”

Korra and Asami exchanged a look. How could they explain?

“His mind was gone,” Asami said, her voice as soothing as she could make it.

Daiyu closed her eyes, but tears continued to fall. 

“Has Xin Ling come back?”

There was a long silence.

“Your Highness,” Long Kuai spoke at last, “he has not. But we are here to defend you.”

“Captain.”

“I beg your forgiveness for not being there to protect you,” he said, and bowed low.

“How am I not dead, then?” she asked.

“This is my pupil, Xue. She has been watching over you for some time.” He gestured for Xue to come forward.

“Your Highness,” Xue said, and also bowed deeply.

“I...I don’t recognize you. You’ve been watching over me?”

“Yes, Highness. I stay in the shadows, but I’ve been near you for a few months now.”

“You knew about Xin Ling?”

“I did, Highness, but I kept the knowledge to myself. Even from the Captain.”

“Thank you. I didn’t know there was anyone I could trust.”

Xue bowed again.

Korra touched the queen’s hand. “Queen Daiyu, I’m the Avatar. I’m here to help you too.”

“The Avatar… you’re Asami’s friend?”

“Yeah. She and I are… best friends.” Korra smiled her best crooked smile.

“I’ve seen you at the banquets, but you and I haven’t met, have we?”

“Yeah, sorry about that. I was trying to keep a low profile. I just came along with the trade group because Asami asked.”

Queen Daiyu sighed heavily. “I wish I could do that.”

“Can you get up, Highness?” Long Kuai asked. “Can you walk?”

“I don’t know, Captain. I really don’t feel good.”

“Forgive me, Highness, but… the ministers believe you are dead. Ren Chong has been selected to become king, and he’s to be crowned at midday. If you can, you need to present yourself and confront him, or you will lose your throne.”

Queen Daiyu closed her eyes again. She swallowed several times.

“And if I can’t?”

Long Kuai did not answer.

“Is it even worth it? If it hadn’t been Ming, it would have been another one. Ren Chong, or Chao, or somebody else. I don’t even know if Xin Ling wouldn’t have, at this point.”

“Ren Chong is bad,” Korra said, in a warning tone. “He won’t be good for the people here. Things have to change.”

“If I’m not strong enough to walk up to him, everyone will see that I’m weak, and we’ll be right back where we started. He’s going to be king either way, only there’ll be another riot if I challenge him.”

“They’ll see that he’s a liar, and that you are still the legitimate ruler.”

“This city was on the brink of civil war before. That won’t have changed.”

“The people are still afraid of the spirits, and it seems all those traditionalists would rather have a liar than a queen,” Asami pointed out. “The beast showing up hasn’t been helpful at all.”

“Beast?” the queen asked, her voice quavering.

“Oh dear,” Xue said. “A spirit beast was seen during the night. But none of the citizens of Omashu were harmed. It took one of the Avatar’s friends.”

“We don’t know if it had anything to do with the situation here,” Korra explained. “It was… bad timing?”

“Very bad,” Xue answered.

Long Kuai put up his hands. “Highness, please listen. Avatar Korra is right. Ren Chong does not have the best interests of Omashu at heart. Things do have to change. If you confront him and assert your rule, I will stand for you.”

The queen attempted to sit up, but could not.

Opal, who had been nearby, writing everything down so her mother could follow, finally came forward. “Your Highness,” she said, “there’s another way.”

* * *

A bell clanged in the servant’s room. 

“Watch out, dearie,” an older woman said. “He’s on a streak this morning.”

The young servant girl crept up the long stairs from the kitchen towards Minister—no, wait— King Ren Chong’s apartments. 

She knocked gently on the door, and waited for a reply. “Come!” she heard him shriek.

Entering, she bowed low, and stayed bowed, lest he see the fear in her eyes.

“What took you!? Fetch me the Captain of the Guard! I want to see him after I finish this breakfast!”

“Your Highness,” she replied, eyes still fixed on the floor. 

“GO!” he screamed.

She fled. She had no idea how to find the Captain, or how long it would take him to finish his meal, but her feet barely touched the stairs on the way down to ask her mistress.

In the darkest part of night, without a lamp, Ren Chong followed secret stairs down to a lower level of the city. He didn’t know how to get to the place Shin had described; he never spent any time in that part of the city, with its dirt and misery, and fumbled in the darkness, looking for a hole in the tower wall. Dressed in a shopkeeper’s clothes, he hoped to blend in and remain unseen; difficult in an isolated city where almost everyone knew everyone else. They shouldn’t be able to recognize him, but he couldn’t take any risks.

It was not until he neared the very bottom of the city, near the gate, that he finally saw the gaping, ragged hole blown through the tower. He raged silently at how long it had taken to find it, because now dawn had come, and there were people out, doing early-morning business. It was too high simply to walk through, so he’d have to earthbend stairs to it, and that would draw far too much attention.

Trembling with frustration and nerves, he made his way up a few streets and entered the tower behind a hedge, bending the wall open. He was an adequate earthbender, but rarely used his gift, as others were always there to do the work for him. His heart was in his throat much of the time, fearing the scraping sound of stone on stone.

False starts down corridors that all looked alike burned precious time away. At last, however, they led him to an old, heavy door, and to his relief it was unlocked; but the passing of the minutes allowed him little comfort. Finally he crept down those stairs, saw the broken door with its iron hardware gone, and blood smeared over tiles. The queen was not there.

He was nearly sick. Where was she?

He patted himself down, assuring himself he still had the two vials in his pocket, and moved as quietly and quickly as he was able back up the stairs, ascending level after level of the city. 

As he neared his own chambers, this time concerned that he would be recognized in a commoner’s clothes instead of his own, he struggled to regain his breath. Terror was behind every door, around every corner.

Where was the queen? Where was the Avatar, or her friend? Where was Long Kuai? And where were the guards? He’d seen none at all.

At last, safely inside his bedroom, he put King Bumi’s rings back on his fingers. Their hard, smooth glitter helped to calm him.  _ Be reasonable _ , he told himself.  _ What could go wrong? _ She’d been stabbed hours ago, and the amount of blood he’d witnessed on that floor was more than he’d ever seen. There was no way she’d be able to confront him at the coronation, even if she had survived.

He would command the captain to come before him, and account for the night’s activities, and the absence of guards. Why had the trade delegation been allowed to escape? Demand a report on why she had not yet been found, and order him to search for her! Had he caught her assassin? What had he been doing all night? Sleeping? 

He pulled the embroidered bell strap that descended from the ceiling. 

After all, Long Kuai was merely Captain of the Guard, while he was the  _ king. _

Ren Chong finally relaxed. So far, he reminded himself, everything that had happened with the queen, the escaped trade delegation, and the murders were still none of his doing. Even telling the other ministers the queen was dead could be chalked up to bad intelligence from a street urchin and a dirty guard. The blame for her missing body was the Captain’s.

He was certainly relieved he hadn’t claimed to have seen her himself.

He  _ was _ responsible for Ming’s demise, but no one could prove that. Why should he worry?

A little sleep, a hearty breakfast, choosing the finest clothing.  In just a few more hours he would be unassailable.


	25. Coronation Day

With a yawn and a stretch, Bolin woke from his slumber aboard the airship. The sun colored the peaks of the mountains near Omashu a rosy gold. The sky was clear. 

He went to check on his prisoner, but the exhausted, pale man slumped in his seat, mouth open, unshaven, hardly looked like a criminal. He was just a regular guy, and obviously he’d done something incredibly stupid, but Bolin couldn’t make himself believe that this fella had killed anyone. In the middle of the night, he’d heard Xin Ling crying, quietly.

Bolin was glad he’d be meeting Korra in Omashu, to help this poor guy clear things up.

The captain of the airship greeted him with a polite “Good morning,” and Bolin asked how long it would be before they were over the city. Around midday, the pilot said. They’d had clear weather and made good time.

Opal would be there, too, and he was both excited and nervous about finding her. With her travels as part of the Air Nomads taking her to places around the world, and his job with the Republic City police keeping him busy, it seemed as though there were hardly any time for the two of them to share, and he missed her enormously. Still, he was more concerned about keeping her safe: Zhu Li had said they’d be landing in the middle of a civil war.

He’d heard Omashu was kind of backward, but he had no idea what to expect. Xin Ling said they didn’t have any of the things that made Republic City… well, Republic City. No cars, no electric lights, no pro-bending, no movers. Bolin had trouble imagining it. He wondered if they had indoor plumbing, and that made him almost as nervous as the prospect of keeping Opal safe in the middle of the conflict.

At last, Bolin saw the city. It was strange and beautiful, in a way he’d never dreamed. Without all the modern trappings, it looked shining and dreamlike, like something out of a bedtime story. There were no wires anywhere, no radio towers. All the buildings were made of the same light yellow stone with green and gold upturned roofs, with a palace at the mountain’s peak, so high that clouds floated around it. Graceful chutes on arched columns criss-crossed the city, curving downward. From top to bottom, streets with stairs and bridges were covered with people.

About halfway up the city, between the palace at its peak and its enormous wall and the narrow road that led to it near the bottom, there was a massive building with a great plaza in front of it. A crowd was gathering.

With a reluctant sigh, he shook Xin Ling’s shoulder. “Hey, we’re almost there.”

* * *

“That’s as good a sign as any,” Korra said.

Long Kuai nodded. “If Ren Chong wants to see me, then it’s time to get things rolling.” He dismissed the messenger with a smile. “I think I’m going to enjoy this. See you all at the coronation.”

Lin stood, ready to execute their plan. “All right. Su, Opal… good luck. Watch for our signal.” The mother and daughter made their way to the back of the baths, and Su earthbent a hole in the wall. They passed through and out.

She turned to Korra and Asami. “Are you ready?”

“I should get my glove,” Asami said. “It’s still up in the rooms where we’ve been staying.”

“Good idea,” Lin said. “Get it. We’ll meet you on the east side of the plaza, but try to stay out of sight.”

Lin, Xue, Asami and Korra had donned guards’ clothing to disguise themselves. “We may pass as guards, but Asami?” She giggled. “With that hair? And those eyes?”

“You underestimate your own appeal as a woman in uniform,” Asami replied, with a tone and a smoldering look that made Korra’s cheeks go red.

“Knock it off, you two,” Lin growled. “Save it for Republic City.”

Kya, sitting with Daiyu, laughed as well. “Oh, come on, Lin… Asami’s on to something. You should look in a mirror sometime, when you’re wearing yours.”

Lin hmpfed. “Mirrors haven’t been useful for me the past week.”

Xue and Daiyu exchanged a look of confusion.

“You mean, they? Like… you?” Daiyu asked.

Asami gave the queen a wide smile, and Kya patted her hand. “An odd coincidence, but, well, yes!”

Then Kya got up and kissed Lin, hands cupping her face. “I’m just reminding you.”

Lin cleared her throat. “Let’s get going.” She could do nothing about the blush that warmed her own cheeks.

* * *

The minister’s face was pale, and dark circles marked his eyes. He didn’t turn from his mirror as Long Kuai entered the room, but continued to admire himself in a robe of green silk and gold thread, with cuffs and collar of purple.

“Explain yourself.”

“What?”

Ren Chong shot him a cold look. “You’re here to report on the night’s events. Why did the trade delegation escape? Where is the queen’s body? Where is her assassin? Why were there no guards on duty last night?”

“The trade delegation escaped because they learned our routines and worked around them. That’s how escapes are usually done. Did you really believe we could keep them here against their will forever?”

“Your guards were incompetent. They should have been stopped.”

“Yes, Minister,” Long Kuai responded, in a tone that meant exactly the opposite.

“I am King now, Captain. You will address me accordingly.”

“Not until midday, Minister.”

Ren Chong turned to him, and his eyes narrowed to slits.

“You have caught the assassin?”

“No.”

“The queen remains alive?”

Long Kuai shrugged. “She was when last I saw her.”

“Which was when?”

Long Kuai looked heavenward and stroked his beard, as though trying to remember.

“Where is she?”

“At the moment, I have no idea,” he replied. 

“What have you been doing all night? Sleeping?!” Ren Chong demanded, “Have you caught the assassin? Why were no guards on duty?”

“I just said we hadn’t. Actually, there were guards on duty. Where were you that you didn’t see them where they should have been?”

“I ask the questions, Captain.”

“Mmm hmm.”

Ren Chong fumed at the captain’s flippancy.

“First, one of my guards brought me the Avatar, all bound up like a criminal. I don’t know what fool thought that was a good idea. Makes all of us look bad. I apologized on Omashu’s behalf and let her go.” He paused, letting that detail sink in. “Also… let’s see... there was a spirit beast down near the gate barracks that kept us occupied for a while. Caught an old woman and carried her off. Caused quite a commotion with the citizens. They were awfully frightened.”

The minister blanched. “A spirit?”

“Well, you know, Minister, ‘Omashu’s traditions will keep us safe from evil spirits,’” the captain replied, jovially.

“Why didn’t you report this to me immediately?” he screeched.

“You’re not the king yet,” Long Kuai replied. “I answer to the queen.”

Ren Chong rushed at him and leaned into his face. “So she’s alive?” he hissed.

“She was when I last saw her.”

“You insolent…” the minister muttered, and swung an open palm at Long Kuai, to slap his face.

The captain caught the minister by the wrist.

He turned Ren Chong’s hand over, and his own eyes registered recognition. “Those rings…“ he said. “They look too big for you.”

The minister yanked his hand back, as though Long Kuai’s words were venom from a flying viper. 

“Effective the minute after my crowning, you will be retired from service.”

“Oh, that sounds wonderful! I’ve been looking forward to retirement!” the White Lotus master said, his eyes twinkling. “I’ve had quite enough.”

* * *

Coronation Day was proclaimed a holiday, so the workers who usually managed the deliveries on the chutes were happy to have a day off, leaving the trolleys unattended. Lin led Kya, carrying the queen in her arms, to one of the trolleys, and used the series of lifts to take them up to a place near the plaza. They stayed inside the cart while Lin moved forward, feeling out the movements of guards and citizens, whose numbers were swelling as the morning moved on toward the hour of coronation.

She knew from the sun’s warmth on her face when she was exposed and when in shadow, and found a corner out of the way where she was least likely to be seen. It was an advantage to be able to “watch” the crowd from behind a wall. Now there was little to do but wait.

This inaction always grated on Lin’s nerves. She much preferred to be out there, swinging on her cables, bending earth, chasing thugs. Even paperwork was preferable to idling anxiously, since it required enough concentration to keep from dwelling on things. Now she had nothing to do but listen to her own thoughts repeat themselves.

_ She’s gonna lose it, _ Kya had said. Sook’s pregnancy was strong enough for Lin to recognize through the vibrations it created; she hadn’t detected it in Queen Daiyu. The emotions that were evoked when she’d felt that movement inside Sook had been on the edge of her mind all along. What was she missing? She hadn’t wanted children, not with Tenzin, not when her career was taking off, not when she had so much pain inside from the rift with her own mother. She wanted to talk to Kya about it so badly, but there hadn’t been any time. Obviously, with Kya, there was no way to experience it herself. Was that a loss? Did she even really want to?

Why did it make her ache that Daiyu was going to lose her child? Logically, it was probably for the best. Xin Ling had preyed upon her and then abandoned her in her darkest hour. Would he have stayed had he known? Out of love, or out of opportunity? 

And she was young. Too young. She wasn’t done being a girl. Hell, the pressure of being queen was too much for a girl so young under the best of circumstances, and the politics and traditions of Omashu were hardly that. Three of her aunts were murdered for no more than being women elevated to a man’s status. She’d just barely survived an assassination attempt herself.

Had the girl ever had any fun in her life? Would motherhood rob her of what little youth she had? No, it might be for the best if this pregnancy were over now.

Suyin had had five children. She loved them all. What would that be like, feeling that much? Even Bataar Junior… how could she manage, when he’d turned against her? She’d been suffering this whole time, for years, since the war with Kuvira. Was that how Toph had felt when she’d arrested her sister for messing around with the triads? Did she suffer all that time, the years until they’d reconciled?

It struck her like a hammer. Was this really how much her own mother loved her?

The crowds shifted in the plaza. She could feel them coming from above and below, filling the space. Thousands of feet, large and small. Little running feet, trying to keep up with their mothers.

_ Come on, Lin. Stay focused. Right now the problem is keeping the queen from losing everything. Keep her safe. Like she were your own. _

* * *

No matter how fast they climbed stairs or jumped ledges, Xue always seemed to be on the next landing ahead of them, urging them on.

“How does… she do… it?” Korra puffed.

Asami shook her head. Lithe and fit as they both were, Xue was faster.

Finally they reached the rooms where they’d been staying as hostages. 

“Give me a minute,” Korra pleaded, leaning on the wall. “Let me catch my breath.”

Asami flopped on the bed, face down, and nodded into the blankets.

Xue smiled shyly.

“How?” Korra gasped.

“Long Kuai has long legs. It takes work to keep up.” Xue shrugged. “He was your master too. Did he not make you run with him?”

“That was...years… years ago!”

“I guess the Satomobile has made us a little soft, huh?” Asami said, rolling over.

“I’m not a bender. We have to be quick, if we want to stay standing.”

“Asami’s not a bender, either, and she is quick,” Korra said. “But that was ridiculous! Phew!”

“What is this glove?” Xue asked, trying to hide her blush by changing the subject.

Asami was recovered more quickly than Korra, and was able to catch her breath to answer. “This? This uses electricity to stun a person, and can temporarily block the qi of a bender. It gives non-benders an equal chance with benders.”

“Electricity.” 

“Oh yeah. Like… lightning? We are able to use something a little bit like lightning inside the glove.”

Xue’s eyes goggled. “You captured lightning in that little glass?”

“In a sense, yes,” Asami laughed. “When things settle down here in Omashu, we’ll be able to show you how these work.”

Xue frowned. “You mean if.”

Korra put a soft hand on Xue’s shoulder. “No, we mean ‘when’. Omashu is out of balance with the rest of the world. We’re going to fix that. That’s the Avatar’s duty, and I really want to make things better for you, and everyone here. Those creeps like Ren Chong hold on to their power by keeping everyone afraid and in the dark. But there’s no reason to be afraid of spirits, or new technology.”

“I hope you’re right,” Xue said dubiously.

“Let’s get back down to the plaza,” Asami said, encouragingly. “Time to make good things happen.”

* * *

“Keep up, Ting,” the woman said. The little girl followed her mother closely, a small hand gripping her apron, but the woman was all nerves. The baby in the sling at her breast was asleep, thank the spirits. They made their way from the little house in the shadows up to the great plaza, blending in with the crowds that gathered there. She was terrified of seeing Shu among them, and she clutched the bundle under her arm tightly. She hadn’t seen Shin since before dawn, but feared it was too late to do anything about him anyway. The boy’s anger was growing daily, just like his father, and it was almost a relief to have him gone. Even as she thought this there was a pang in her heart.

She climbed the stairs, dreading the coronation of Minister Ren Chong. Under his rule, things would not change, and would likely get worse for people of her station. What help she’d been able to get from her neighbors would dwindle if their own fortunes dried up, and while she knew that some of the money for their bread was paid for by Shin’s thievery, he couldn’t get away with it forever. Shu would only get angrier and angrier until one day she’d meet her own end, and then who would take care of Ting? Or little Bao?

The Avatar was in the city, though, and this ray of hope was what put one foot in front of the other, up and up the streets. The queen wasn’t dead, and she believed it with all her heart; the Avatar had promised that they would be rewarded for their help. It was the right thing to do, in any case, but the promise was what she clung to today. The Avatar promised to set this right, to bring balance back to Omashu.

Justice had to be done, and the bundle under her arm was her own key to freedom.

* * *

“Yip yip!” Opal called, and Juicy rose into the air, gently, bearing the official ambassadors from Zaofu. She was so pleased to be with her mother today; Kya had somehow lifted a darkness from her, and Suyin was the proud Matriarch she’d always been, but now determined to share the light of progress with a new city. Mom was even reading Opal’s lips with greater precision. Her deafness seemed like much less of a handicap than even a few hours ago. Her eyes were bright and clear.

Opal smiled. She laughed to herself, remembering. “Do no harm, but take no shit,” her mother had once said, when she thought her young children weren’t listening, and she’d deny having used such coarse language to this day, but really, that was the philosophy that described perfectly how Suyin Beifong operated. Opal was glad this was the woman she’d be near today.

Mom had said that Grandma Toph and Katara were on their way, riding a dragon… it seemed incredible, but there was never a shortage of excitement where Grandma was concerned. She was eager to meet Katara, too. What kinds of stories could they tell?

She cast her eyes about the mountain range that contained the peak on which Omashu was built. The air was clear, with a few clouds forming over the sea far to the southwest. But what was that, coming in from the north? 

An airship?

* * *

First there was a bell, so large, and making a sound so low, it could be felt under the soles of the feet of every person in the plaza.

Then there was the trill of a hundred flutes.

This was joined with the thundering of mallets on bamboo.

Then cymbals clashing.

Then chimes.

All the music came together and began a rhythm, growing until it swept the listeners back through time to something ancient, back to the beginning, when earthbending was new, learned from the badgermoles themselves. Oma and Shu, lovers kept from one another, a war between their people. Shu struck down, and Oma’s display of power upon which this city was founded.

Then there was a voice, chanting. The voice chanted the names of the kings and queens of Omashu from that time to this. As the names became more familiar, the crowd began to chant along, and there was a cheer for King Bumi the mad genius, and then the voices dropped, coming at last to Queen Daiyu. And then the voices fell silent.

“O People of Omashu! A new King is chosen!”

There was a low cheer, followed by indistinct muttering.

“Rise and greet your new king!”

The people, already standing, shuffled their feet. Some near the front puffed out their chests. A row of guards stood at attention, their spears at the ready.

On a platform above the people, the cabinet of ministers processed out from the huge government building, forming a semi-circle. From them one stepped forward, wearing green that glinted with gold thread. His cuffs and collar were purple.

He raised his hands high in greeting, and again there was a low cheer. The guards stamped their feet and struck the butts of their spears against the plaza stones sharply.

Ren Chong earthbent a pedestal for himself, raising himself higher than the other ministers. Chao came alongside, carrying the crown on a velvet pillow. His face was blank.

As Minister Chao stepped up the stairs of the pedestal and raised his hands, the crown poised over Ren Chong's head, a shadow passed over the crowd, and they turned. The crackle of a loudspeaker caused them to cringe and cover their ears.

“Uh, um..hello? Hi! Hi. Hey, hi! Good afternoon, everybody, sorry to interrupt. Uh… Bolin here… uh. Say, don’t mean to bother you in the middle of this… uh… ceremony, but… uh...is Avatar Korra there? Could we have her come up, please? Kind of important.”


	26. True Believers

From his perch at the top of the government building, Shin watched the crowd moving, groups of people ebbing and flowing like water.  _ So many _ , he thought. From this distance, he couldn’t really make out anyone he knew. Most of them lived higher up the mountain than he did, but that didn’t matter right now. The music began, and he felt a stirring inside, thinking of his city’s proud past, and heard them chanting the royal names below. He heard the crier announce that Ren Chong had been made king.

Then he saw the shadow of the airship over the crowd below, and he looked up, startled. 

A blinding rage filled him. Would outsiders never leave them alone? 

“Outside the city gates lies corruption,” he growled.

* * *

 

The crowd gave a collective gasp, and scattered out of the way of the descending ship. Guards drew into a defensive position in front of the platform.

Long Kuai, now dressed in the dark blue robe and white lotus collar of the Order, vaulted out of the crowd and up onto the place where the ministers stood, mouths agape. Chao stepped back, clutching the crown to his chest.

"I've got an idea," Asami shouted at Korra, as the people began to edge toward the stairs away from the plaza. A stampede was imminent.

"If that's Bolin, Xin Ling is with him," Lin called to Kya. She shot out from behind the wall and shed the guard's cloak. A cable flew from the reels on her back, up toward the airship. With a running jump, she launched herself outward, sweeping around and over the crowd as the cable drew her up. Asami leapt up, and caught Lin, and the two of them ascended toward the cabin on the underside of the dirigible.

A few soldiers began to heave boulders and spears at the airship, narrowly missing the Chief and Asami.

"STOP!" Korra shouted, and then entered the avatar state. She whirled on air, up over the crowd, and hovered, her eyes aglow. "LISTEN!"

Some in the crowd bent in terror, and children clung to their terrified parents. Many looked on in wonder.

Ren Chong stood his ground, his face a twisted mask of fury. His moment was passing, and he had to seize power now. "Guards! Defend the King!"

"LISTEN," Korra called again, her voice compounded with the power of her spiritual state, echoing throughout the plaza. "DO NOT FEAR. YOU MUST STAND WITNESS NOW, OMASHU."

"I am KING!" Ren Chong shouted.

"You are not!" Long Kuai boomed, and all eyes turned to him. "The queen is still alive! You usurp the throne!"

The assembled people made noises of astonishment, but there was an undercurrent of anger.

"Show her to me! We have witnesses to her assassination! Where is she, if she lives?"

The collected ministers shuffled uncomfortably, but seeing his opportunity, Chao spoke up. "Show us the body, if she is dead."

"That was the Captain's duty, to bring her killer to justice. He's hidden the body, to discredit me!"

“How could it discredit you? It certainly doesn’t exonerate you.”

Ren Chong turned very red.

Korra brought herself down from the column of air onto the platform, in between Ren Chong and Long Kuai. 

“It doesn’t matter! I will be king!” He looked out over the crowd. “People! Do you believe in the traditions of Omashu?”

There was a confused sound. Some had yelled “YES!” fervently, but others were talking to each other, unsure what to do.

“My supporters! Come to me!”

There was a tussle in the crowd, as some men shoved others, attempting to move to the front. Punches were thrown, and a wider fight was about to break out. The guards looked nervously at each other. A few had lowered their spears, ready to fight, while others were turning themselves to stop that advance. Rocks hovered in the air, benders positioned to strike.

Korra spun on the platform, and water from two fountains on either side of the government building rose up in a wave. She doused the crowd with it, cooling their tempers.

“YOU MUST WITNESS, NOT FIGHT.”

“Do you want a queen, or a king?” Ren Chong demanded.

The same people who had been shoving now pressed forward again, creating a sort of phalanx. This time, the others let them come together, and moved aside to let them pass.

It was almost all men, with a few uncomfortable-looking women, some dragged by their husbands. Those unwilling to be part reached out and grasped the hands of others in the crowd, and were pulled free. The men’s faces were hard and angry.

“Do you not fear the spirits?” Ren Chong’s voice had changed, and he now strove to be persuasive. “Evil spirits were in the city last night. The traditions say that a new king must be selected at the passing of the last monarch. We are deeply saddened by the death of Queen Daiyu, and shocked that an assassin should have been able to come so near her. But it is our tradition to keep steady! The ministers have done their duty and selected me to succeed her. A KING should rule Omashu!”

Xue, called out from the shadows, with a peculiarly resonant voice which seemed to come from everywhere. “Where is Minister Ming?”

The crowd murmured. Where was the eldest minister?

Ren Chong feigned sadness, making his face almost comically long. “He passed in the night, victim to the assassin’s blade.”

Korra came out of the avatar state and turned to face Ren Chong, her face clouded with anger. “I healed him. He didn’t die from those wounds.”

“Where’s  _ his _ body?” Xue called again, and everyone looked around themselves, wondering where the voice came from.

Chao had a strange look of pleasure on his face. “Indeed, Minister Ren Chong. Where is Ming’s body?”

“Ask his servants! He was dead wh—” 

“When you went to see him last night?” Chao challenged.

“Do you accuse me?” Ren Chong said, attempting to maintain his composure. “Do you suggest I lowered myself to murder an old man?”

“The Avatar healed him to the point where he could be taken home, and yet now he’s dead.”

“What motive would I have had? Did I have insufficient support from the rest of the ministers to become king?”

This stalled Chao, and Ren Chong turned again to plead to the crowd. “Remember the plague! Evil spirits! Was there not a spirit beast in this city just today? They demand that we adhere to the traditions! The queen invited corruption into our city, and she was punished! I must be made king, in accord with the traditions!”

The crowd murmured fearfully.

Xue piped up again. “The queen was struck by an assassin, not a spirit!”

Confusion rippled through the throng.

“Show yourself!” Ren Chong demanded, but Xue merely snickered to herself and remained hidden.

“The beast took someone not from Omashu,” she went on. The citizens conferred with each other. No one knew who it was who’d been taken, and that was what the Captain had told them.

“They’re right,” another voice called. It was Lin, who’d descended from the airship’s ladder, and was approaching the platform. “It took my mother. And I should remind you that I was here during that plague, and that had nothing to do with evil spirits either. Kya the waterbender cured all of the people here, didn’t she?”

Tittering swept through the masses. They recognized Lin.

Asami and Bolin escorted Xin Ling on either side. Lin bent stairs for them to climb onto the platform.

Xin Ling, looking very sheepish and unkempt, looked out at the sea of faces. Most were accusing, but many were simply curious. 

Asami slipped back to stand behind Korra, and whispered, “This was unexpected, huh?” Korra nodded.

Suddenly none of the ministers knew quite what to do. Their hesitant silence grew awkward.

“Did you kill the queen’s aunts?” Xue’s voice came, from all corners, and the crowd supported her, asking the same.

Long Kuai could not suppress a small laugh. He didn’t know where his pupil had learned this ventriloquism, but she had risen very high in his estimation these past few days. Perhaps he could learn a thing or two from her, as well. Pride swelled in him. He’d chosen well for the White Lotus.

“NO!” Xin Ling cried. “I didn’t! I would never! I thought they were going to kill me next! That’s why I ran!” The beleaguered young minister began to sob, covering his face.

The queen tugged Kya’s dress. “Now,” Daiyu said. “Take me there.”

Kya pushed the trolley from the delivery gate out into the plaza, and with many a “Pardon me,” and “Excuse me,” the people turned and saw the tall, striking, silver-haired waterbender coming toward them. They recognized her as the healer from the plague, and the word was passed from ear to ear, widening her path. By the time she reached the platform, the crowd had parted completely, stunned.

Gently, she lifted Daiyu from the trolley, and climbed the stairs.

Long Kuai pressed Ren Chong down from the pedestal he’d created, and pushed it into the ground. Behind, Lin raised a seat from the same stones, and Kya settled the queen into it, with great care.

Despite being in a ragged dress, covered with blood only partially washed away, hair loose and slightly bedraggled, the queen’s face was regal and calm. 

“I’m not dead,” she said, so softly that only those nearby could hear.

* * *

“I haven’t been back to Omashu in… wow… decades. Not since King Bumi’s funeral. I wonder if it’s different,” Katara mused.

The sound Toph made could have been interpreted as a laugh. She shook her head.

* * *

There was a crash behind the ministers, and a sizeable piece of the green upturned roof from the government building’s front portico landed on the plaza.

Everyone scattered. There were screams from the crowd as a stampede began in earnest, people crushing to get to the stairs and some climbing into the chutes to slide down and away.

Lin put one foot out down in front of her, hard, and with an upswing of her arms a stone shelter covered the queen and those near her. Once they were covered, she stepped out forward in front of it, and stamped again, to get a read on what was up above them. A young boy stood next to the remainder of the roof. To either side were steep chutes, and Lin shot a cable out and up above the boy to her right, again leaping into a swing as the cable retracted and pulled her up.  

Korra also looked up and recognized the boy, and with a frustrated huff jumped skyward, jets of flame propelling her towards him. He was ready, and fired a barrage of stones at her, which she dodged with a spin. Ducking, he dropped inside the hole in the roof he’d created, and continued to fire small stones at her with great force. One struck her in the shoulder and knocked her backwards, and she dropped an alarming distance before righting herself and coming back to land on the plaza.

“It’s that kid again!” she shouted, launching herself once more. Lin landed on the roof, and carefully waited to sense where he’d gone.

From windows nearby, fusillades of small stones rained down, striking with enough force to puncture the armor of two guards, who rolled away with bleeding injuries. Those who were still close to the platform covered their heads with their arms, terrified, looking for shelter.

Opal and Su, aloft on Juicy, began to descend as they saw the airship turn toward Omashu, but had stayed back, waiting for Lin’s signal. It was clear now that their plan was changed, and Opal guided her bison into a dive. 

Bolin went into police mode and moved to get the crowd to exit the plaza in an orderly way. He dove to protect a mother with a baby and child from being plowed over, and then with a few swift moves created several lanes of rock wall that people fell into, moving them into neat lines that led to the stairs. Guards saw this and regained their sense of duty, and assisted with the press of bodies, urging calm.

The ministers were already gone, mostly into the government building. Long Kuai pursued them, trying desperately not to lose sight of Ren Chong. The would-be king slipped down a turning hallway and through a heavy door. The White Lotus master ripped the door open just seconds later, but the hallway diverged in three directions, and Ren Chong was nowhere to be seen.

Seconds after that, Asami caught up to him. “Did he get away?”

“Yes,” Long Kuai spat. “Is the queen safe?”

“Right now, yeah, but that kid Shin is up on the roof, shooting rocks at people. We’ll catch Ren Chong later.”

Nodding, he followed her back out.

Korra hovered in the air outside the windows. “Shin! Shin, stop!”

She was surprised when suddenly the barrage did stop.

Lin took this moment to leap down into the building, where she sensed a young, thin boy holding something like a knife.

“Put it down,” she urged, firmly.

“Omashu’s traditions will keep us safe from EVIL SPIRITS!” the boy shrieked, and turning, flung the knife through the window.

The whirling blade, shockingly sharp, sliced a gash across Korra’s cheek, and she was so startled that she tumbled again. This time she landed with a soft thud into Juicy’s saddle, and the bison curved away from the building, Opal pulling hard on the reins.

Lin’s cables plunged forward again, and this time surrounded the boy. She gave the metal ropes a hard jerk, and yanked him off his feet.

Shin struggled for a moment, but then concentrated, and the cables wriggled like snakes, leaving him room to crawl out. He scrambled up the wall, punching holes with his toes, and climbed back out onto the roof.

“Shit,” Lin muttered. Then she blasted a hole in the wall off to the side, leaned out, and yelled, “He’s a metalbender!”

Juicy landed on the platform just under the shelter, and Su pulled the startled Avatar to safety. Kya was already pulling her water flask from her waistband.

Asami, without hesitation, leapt into the saddle. “Get me up there,” she snarled, and Opal obliged. 

Dodging more stones, the bison wove its way closer to the building, until Asami threw herself across the gap and into the hole Lin had made.

“He bent his way out of the cables,” Lin warned.

“Bring him down,” she said, through gritted teeth.

Lin placed her feet again and swept her hands palms downward, and the remainder of the roof landed in a single piece onto the floor where they stood. The boy wobbled, trying to regain his footing, and Asami sprang forward. 

Twisting, he squirmed out of the way just as Asami was about to grab his arm with her gloved hand. She ducked and rolled, but he was up and running, up the sloping tile of the destroyed roof, and out. He jumped, dropping a distance to another lower roof, and from there scrambled over the side of the steep chute on the left side of the government building. Lin and Asami tried to follow, but when they’d made it onto the tiles of the roof, he was sliding down on his feet, almost out of sight.

“Slippery as a damned unagi!” Lin railed.

Opal brought Juicy up and they climbed into the saddle, and they flew back down to where Kya had just finished healing Korra’s wound.

Asami rushed to her. “Korra! Are you all right?”

Korra grasped her hand. “Yeah. Startled more than anything. Hey Kya, am I gonna have a badass scar like Lin’s?” she smiled crookedly.

“Sorry, nope. It was a clean cut, and sealed right up. Might be a really thin one, but that’s it. Lin’s got a monopoly on badass.”

Lin’s face was first astonished, and then embarrassed, and then formed its most customary expression: a scowl.

“The boy’s a metalbender. I thought there were no metalbenders in Omashu.”

“There aren’t,” Xin Ling answered.

“Where’d he pick it up, then?” Lin demanded.

“I don’t know,” Korra said, “but he must have figured it out on his own. That’s both impressive and really scary.”

Kya interrupted. “It looks like this crisis is over, for the moment. We really need to get something to eat. The queen needs to build up her blood and frankly, I’m starving.”

Long Kuai looked grave. “Ren Chong is exposed now, and uncrowned. He disappeared.”

“Let him go,” the queen said. “What more can he do?”

“As long as you are alive and he is free, Highness, you are still in danger. We need to find him. I suspect he did murder Minister Ming, and since we know now that Xin Ling did not kill your aunts, he is the most likely to have done that too. He needs to be brought to justice.”

Bolin returned, carrying some festival food from carts that street vendors had brought to the plaza for the ceremony, and then abandoned. “Anybody hungry? Got some cabbage rolls. They smell awesome.”

“Let’s get the queen back to her chambers, and then search for Ren Chong,” Kya suggested. “Xue, Bolin and I can protect her there while you go look for him."

Xin Ling announced, “I am here to serve my queen.”

Daiyu regarded him coldly, but said nothing.

* * *

After the burly earthbender from the airship had saved them, the woman, Lian, pulled her children to safety, off to the right of the plaza, and watched the people of Omashu rush in panic trying to escape the flying stones, and then in horror as the government building’s portico roof collapsed. She watched the Avatar take flight and fall, not once but twice, the second time caught by a flying bison. She saw a small figure emerge from the roof of the portico, and recognized with a pang of sadness and shame that it was her own boy Shin who had disrupted the coronation ceremony, and was wreaking havoc on the crowd.

Her emotions were muddy. It was her own child, trying to hurt everyone. But he’d saved her without knowing: now that Ren Chong was openly accused of Ming’s murder, it would be impossible for him to become king. But even better, the queen was alive and well, and in the protection of the Avatar and her friends, and that included Captain Long Kuai.

And yet her chance to approach and offer her evidence in front of the city was gone. Disappointment threatened to choke her, and her eyes brimmed with tears. What could she do now? She couldn’t return home, lest Shu were there.

“Mama, are we going home now?” Ting asked. Her voice was small. She was so innocent.

That was that. Things had to change. Her girls deserved better.

“No, baby. Let’s go meet the queen.”


	27. Trust

They ate hurriedly, downing the cabbage rolls and dumplings that Bolin had grabbed from the carts, and were on the move again.

“Who’s more dangerous, Ren Chong or Shin?” Lin asked.

“Both,” Long Kuai shook his head. “I didn’t know Shin had learned to metalbend, but this is a very upsetting development.”

“He’s pretty upset himself,” Korra said. “I don’t think there’s any reasoning with him.”

“I think we should go after the boy,” Asami suggested. “There may not be any reasoning with either of them, but we should be able to predict what Ren Chong might do next. Shin has become completely unstable, and he’s proved he’s willing to do anything to anyone. My guess is that Ren Chong is going to retreat for a while and gather his supporters. With Shin? I just hope he hasn’t hurt anyone else yet.”

“Agreed,” Lin said. “We have to go after the kid.”

She put her foot down again, hard, to read the area. They were just inside the government building, off to the side where Shin had slid down the chute and vanished. The range that she was able to sense was wide, but there were hundreds of people to sort through, some standing still, some walking, some running. 

“There are just too many people around. I can’t find one kid this way.”

“If you were him, where would you go?” Korra asked Long Kuai.

“He was up high when he launched his attack. He escaped low. Maybe we should go towards his home and check there.”

Juicy landed, after having taken the queen and her guardians up to the summit to the palace. 

“We’re going to try to stop the boy first,” Lin told them. 

Suyin showed them a length of strong cord from Juicy’s saddle. “This is quality rope,” she commented. “Might work a little better than cables.”

“How about you and Opal go up and watch from there?”

Not needing Opal’s interpretation, Su agreed. “Everything is very clear today,” she added.

* * *

Guards were only beginning to resume their posts up in the palace, and they returned the queen there with no difficulty. Bolin carried her to her chamber. Xin Lin followed so closely that he stepped on the back of his shoes more than once, muttering apologies.

When she was settled and comfortable, Kya asked where the bath was, and returned with water that she made the queen drink. Rebuilding her blood supply was the most important thing, and water was as necessary as food for that.

Daiyu was exhausted from the events, and was soon asleep. 

Then they waited.

Xue was accustomed to this, having spent hours each day for the past several months in the shadows, just out of sight, watching over the queen. 

Today she wasn’t in the shadows, but it was so strange to be there by her bedside that she almost felt like retreating back into the darkened corners of the huge bedchamber. Xin Ling was in a chair on the other side of the bed, all his attention focused on the queen.

Xue wanted to gut him like a fish.

Long Kuai had taught her earthbending forms, even though she wasn’t a bender, because he knew they could still be effective in a hand-to-hand situation; and he had been training her with weapons, because all members of the White Lotus were expert in some form of the martial arts. He’d taught her to meditate, to observe but not engage, to see and remember but not judge, to be in the moment, thinking neither of the past nor the future.

It was that meditation that had made being the queen’s secret protector possible. The work of being a queen was mostly tedious and not at all glamorous, and spending hours in the background, listening to petitions, reports, and the ministers’ droning advice was dull indeed.

She was surprised when Xin Ling first started approaching the queen, sometimes leaning in to whisper a thing to her that would make her smile during dinners, or cautiously putting his hand on hers when he thought no one was looking. He looked at her with admiration when she spoke, and the young monarch had grown to look for that affirmation more and more as things with the elder ministers grew more difficult. Xue was aware when he managed to get her alone during a ball, and her body language was very open to him. The young queen appreciated the attention of this suave, older man, and no doubt he flattered her considerably whenever he had the chance.

It made Xue uncomfortable.

The night of their first assignation, Xue knew something big was going on, because the usually somber, thoughtful queen was uncharacteristically nervous and distracted. Minister Ming was irritated with her asking him to repeat himself numerous times, and his answers grew increasingly sarcastic and sharp. Xin Ling, though the most junior of the ministers, took the old man aside to talk, and afterward the elder minister was much more gracious. The queen took note of this, and Xue remembered the look of gratitude and something that looked a good deal like adoration on her face.

She followed Xin Ling that night, as he went into the hallway above the queen’s private apartment in the palace, and watched in shock as he bent the floor open and greeted her… and she welcomed him in. 

Xue sighed, remembering. What else had she felt? She dared not name it. Her job was to protect the queen, but it wasn’t to prevent her from enjoying her life, and if it were Xin Ling that made her happy, then who was she to stop it? Yes, of course, she wanted the queen to be happy. 

Even though Xin Ling was worthless. Even though his administration of his ministry, public parks and recreation, was largely left unattended. Even though there were rumors of his drunken debauchery down in the lower levels of the city.

Maybe she could change him, Xue thought, and now, seeing him so distraught at her side, she wondered if these events had made a difference to him.

She’d kept the queen’s secret, even from Long Kuai. When the queen had thanked her this morning, saying ” I didn’t know there was anyone I could trust,” the words had filled her with warmth and pride.

Xin Ling had lost the queen’s trust. He’d fled when she needed him the most. The night of those horrific murders, he’d heard the guards running and the staff screaming, and he left her room and didn’t come back.

The next day, when it was discovered he’d fled the city, and the murders were assumed to be his doing, she hung just out of sight, watching the queen sob until Xue thought she might break. She ached to comfort her, but the queen did not even know she was in the room. To Queen Daiyu, Xue was a stranger. 

He’d abandoned her, and Xue was so angry that she didn’t use what she knew to exonerate him. Let the people think he was the murderer. The ministry was buzzing with talk about who would succeed if the queen were to be assassinated. That meant plots in the works were not derailed by the murder of her aunts, but rather accelerated, now that those women were no longer an obstruction. Leaving her so unprotected was tantamount to being complicit, Xue decided.

The news came that he’d claimed asylum with the Air Nomads. She was as thunderstruck as any when the queen announced that he was subject to the death penalty and demanded his extradition. Taking the trade delegation hostage immediately after the riot only increased the tension and the danger of being assassinated, but Daiyu took the risk. 

Though Long Kuai had already put her in place to keep the young queen safe, creating the plan to move her out of harm’s way when the delegation escaped, Xue took it upon herself to be nearer at hand, coming more close to revealing herself than ever. The only time she hadn’t been right there was when Asami met with the queen. At that point she’d been reporting to Long Kuai about the arrangements for their plan. 

After the terrifying attack by Ming, it was such a relief to learn that Asami could be trusted, and that Avatar Korra was with them. All these strong, fearless women, all there to save her queen. Because of them, Queen Daiyu was still alive.

Maybe, Xue thought, they could look forward to something better. Now the queen knew her name, knew she was there for her, and maybe after this was all over, they could…

Meditate. No dwelling on the past, no dreaming of the future. Stay in the moment.

Daiyu slept, but Xue could not look away.

* * *

“Is it far now, Mama?” the little girl asked.

Lian looked skyward, toward the palace. They’d already walked up so many streets and stairs that she wondered the same thing. Ting was just a little girl, and it was hard to be angry with her, having been so brave this long.

“We’ll take a rest, baby,” she said.

Bao had begun to fuss, so she pulled aside her shirt and helped the baby find her breast to nurse. She found a low wall, and groaned as she sat and took the weight off her feet. Her back was aching.

They still had so far to go, but they’d come even farther already. Lian wasn’t sure what to do. They were thirsty and tired and hungry, but they had no money to buy anything along the way, even if any of the shops had been open. This wasn’t how she’d pictured it. But would it have been better to go home if Shu were there?

Two guards approached. Of course.

“Move along.”

“I will soon. I just need a rest,” she replied.

“What are you doing here?” one asked, gruffly.

“I’m...I’m on my way to see the queen,” she said, defiance welling up in her.

They laughed.

“Look at this, will you? Lower-level loser thinks she’s going to walk all the way up to the palace.”

“I have a right!” she said, her chin up.

“The queen! Ha!” one said.

“And I have a right to knock your stupid ass down the chute,” the other growled.

She cringed at this, exactly the kind of thing Shu would have said, and that flinch caused the guards to laugh again.

The first pointed his spear at her. “Queen’s not going to be queen for much longer anyway. Move along, now. Get back down to your level.”

She didn’t budge.

Above, Suyin tugged on Opal’s sleeve, and pointed. “What’s going on down there?”

Opal squinted. Her mother was gesturing toward a very small target. A tiny flash of light on metal caught her eye. 

“I don’t know what that is, but I don’t like it,” Suyin continued. “Let’s go look.”

The bison went into a dive.

The other guard barked. “We told you to move along!”

Suddenly the spears were yanked out of their hands. They stumbled forward and gaped as the poles clattered on the cobblestones, the metal spear heads now missing.

“Mama, look! It’s that flying furry animal!”

Suyin regarded the two guards with a smirk. Floating just above her palm was a pulsing ball of liquefied metal. She pulled it into a long, sharp sword, and gripped the handle.

“These men aren’t causing you trouble, are they?” she asked.

Lian blinked at Suyin and Opal, unsure what to say.

“They called us ‘lower-level losers’,” Ting sang out. “They’re mean!”

Opal scowled. “Aren’t you supposed to  _ protect _ people weaker than yourself?”

The guards stepped back one step.

“It really has been a bad day in Omashu, hasn’t it?” Suyin added, and with a downward flick of her wrists the bowl-shaped brass helmets of the two guards were suddenly wrapped tightly around their heads.

“Hey!” they both shouted, stumbling and bumping into each other.

Suyin jumped from the saddle, and stood to face Lian. “Are you all right?”

Lian nodded. Looking down in fear, she said, “I wanted to see the queen.”

Opal called over. “She can’t hear you. She’s deaf. She needs to see your lips.”

Ting happily ran to Su’s feet and looked up at her. “We wanna see the queen.”

Suyin put her hands on her knees. “You do?”

“Mama’s got something to show her. It’s important!”

“Well then we shouldn’t make your mama wait, should we?”

“Nuh uh!”

* * *

Kya really wished she could join Daiyu in the bed, just to sleep. As it was, she curled up on a divan near a window, and rested with a pillow under her head. Good old Bolin had found a pai sho board, and was trying to distract Xin Ling with a game. He was such a good guy, always doing his best to make everyone near him feel comfortable and happy. Opal was a lucky girl.

She missed Lin. Lin made her a lucky girl too. As usual, it was impossible to know what was going to happen next, but that excitement must be the price she’d have to pay for such an extraordinary woman in her life. Resilient and strong, a born leader. Always ready to do what’s right, even after losing her sight.

She wondered again why Daiyu’s failing pregnancy had upset Lin so much. Even going blind hadn’t made her cry, but that did.

As of now, there was no sign of miscarriage, but she had very little hope that the fetus could withstand having been deprived of sufficient blood for so long. It was sad, but honestly, at Queen Daiyu’s young age, it was for the best. Hopefully the queen could recover before the cramps started. It was still going to be rough.

And Xin Ling’s aura was weird… he seemed concerned for her now, but Kya didn’t trust him. How exactly had he managed to return at just this time? He was supposed to be under the protection of the Air Nomads, and there hadn’t been any time to deliver a message that an assassination attempt had happened, nor had lifting the death penalty even been discussed. 

The only way he’d be here otherwise was that he got himself arrested. It would explain Bolin as an escort. Mako wasn’t going to go storm Air Temple Island without Lin’s order, but that left Xin Ling leaving the island himself and either turning himself in or doing something really stupid. She couldn’t imagine the former, so that left the latter… and that really didn’t fit with the picture of the devoted lover he was playing now.

Her gaze drifted to Xue. Now that one… Xue was definitely someone she’d like to know better. She had interesting skills, was training to be White Lotus...Xue had spent months protecting the queen without anyone even being aware of her presence. She was guarding her faithfully, even now. In fact, if Kya didn’t know better, that look on Xue’s face… she’d seen that before. It wasn’t very much different from the way Korra looked at Asami, or Asami looked at Korra. Or the way she and Lin looked at each other sometimes.

Kya chuckled to herself. Ah, to be young again! She closed her eyes. With a guardian like that watching over the queen, Kya could afford to take a little nap.

* * *

There were many dozens of service tunnels under Omashu, almost as many as there were chutes that delivered goods up and down. These tunnels were used by servants to get to and from the various apartments of the ministers and their families, but they were also used to access the complex water and sewage system that kept the mountain city verdant all the way to the summit.

Down in the barracks the baths were just one of the outlets for natural hot springs, and the early earthbenders planned an ingenious network of pipes and cisterns, collecting pressurized hot water from volcanic caverns far below as well as condensing steam, and storing it in stone tanks. Rainwater and snow melt from the windward side of the mountain provided cold water. 

There were also storage rooms, granaries, treasure vaults, prison cells, and rooms of every kind that had been used and forgotten over the centuries since Omashu’s founding. The citizens had taken refuge here during wars, and so had criminals hiding from the guards. Some tunnels gained the reputation of harboring ghosts, some partly explored by generations of teenagers looking for thrills and proving their worth through dares. Some rooms down twisting stairwells became the rendezvous point for secret lovers.

Further down there were mines, long since relieved of their precious stones, and natural caves full of glittering stalagmites and stalactites. This was also where lay the royal tombs, and the dens of wolfbats. Badgermoles lived in these deeps. The earthbenders came here only rarely.

Shin knew his fair share of these passageways, retreating here on nights his father was drunk and unpredictable, or after a successful night of filching valuables. He was aware of many of the tales of lost souls and avoided those dark halls.

They were lightless as only caves could be, and anyone who came to these depths would carry a lantern or torch. Shin carried his in front of him, peering down one of those terrifying lengths that was said to be the eternal walkway of a murdered bride.

The blind rage that had driven him before was diminished, but he insisted to himself that he was still not afraid of anything. His newfound metalbending skill had helped him narrowly avoid escape from the Avatar and the foreign women with her. He would go down this dark tunnel, to prove to himself that not even the ghosts of Omashu could hold him back.

His heart thundering, he stepped through the heavy door, after bending the lock open. It was damp-floored, but unremarkable. Yet it was a thick, unyielding darkness that lay beyond the reach of his lamp, and with small steps he proceeded into it.

After several harrowing minutes, Shin began to relax. This hallway wasn’t haunted at all. It was just a story told to scare people. He moved forward, descending on a long arc, eager to see what lay at the far end. 

Then he heard the door far behind him creak.

Quickly covering his lamp, he searched desperately for a place to hide. There were bracing pillars stabilizing the tunnel roof, and he was thin enough to squeeze behind one, if he plastered himself to the wall.

Footsteps grew closer, and a light shone, illuminating a distance beyond where Shin stood. In his hand he had the last of the metal from his father’s shackles, and he rapidly pulled it into a thin dagger.

The footsteps were nearly on him, and he held his breath as the figure passed the pillars.

Ren Chong.

“Stop.”

The minister whirled, and the dagger was at his throat, poking under his beard.

“Tell me why I shouldn’t kill you. You failed to save Omashu.”

Ren Chong’s face, at first fearful, rapidly became the mask that Shin had always known. 

“You haven’t got the stones, boy,” the minister said. “You’re not man enough to kill me yet. Your voice hasn’t even dropped. Now put the knife down and let’s plan our next move.”

Shin hesitated, and then withdrew the blade. “You said you’d think of something, but the queen’s still alive. You were supposed to become king and set things right.”

“Sometimes plans have to change. The Avatar is aided by that traitor Long Kuai. He’s with the White Lotus.”

“But King Bumi was part of the White Lotus too.”

“That was over a century ago, boy. Avatar Aang changed their mission to suit his own agenda. That’s what you do with power. You do things your own way.”

“I can bend metal now. I have more power than you.”

“You think so? If you want to kill me, go ahead, but first tell me what you’ll do next.”

Shin lifted the dagger again, paused, and then put it into his belt.

“Smart boy. Much smarter than your father.”

“My father is a true believer in the power of the spirits.”

“Yes, yes he is. It’s time you learned that belief is a tool of power too.”

Shin narrowed his eyes.

“Come now. You’ve never been down here, have you?”

Shin shook his head.

“You were afraid of the ghosts, weren’t you?”

Shin did not move.

“You believed a story that you were told, and it had the power to keep you away, until you had the courage to see things for what they really are. So it is to hold real power, Shin. You can use belief to control those whose minds are weaker, or whose fear is greater. You understand, don’t you?”

Shin struggled to answer. This did make sense, in a way little else had lately.

“You are smart, and you grow stronger each day. You have the courage to act, and that too is a path to power. You stopped the farce happening today, and now we have the chance to regroup and seize power, and make Omashu what it has always been meant to be.”

It wasn’t quite like that, Shin thought, but Minister Ren Chong had never spoken to him this way before. It seemed as though he were promising something.

“What’s going to happen?”

“You and my supporters and I are going to show the citizens of this city who has the strength to lead. We’re going to capture the Avatar, expel the foreigners from the city, and I will become king.”

“But what about me? My mother?”

“You’ll be rewarded for your aid to the new king. I can train you to become great and hold immense power and influence. With your metalbending, and the new weapons we’ll receive from Varrick Industries, there will be no dissent.”

“What do you mean, Varrick Industries!? The traders? Those outsiders? Foreigners? ‘Outside the city gates…’”

“‘...lies corruption.’ Yes, I know, boy. But what did I just say? Belief is a tool for the powerful. The weak hold their beliefs and we encourage them to hold them, so that they’re properly respectful of our authority. At the same time, we see things as they really are, and the world outside Omashu is changed. We have to catch up, and take the weaponry that they offer to defend ourselves from them. We can use their very tools against them, in defense of our city.”

“But doesn’t that bring in that corruption?”

“Is it corrupt to keep our city safe? Does that end not justify the means?”

Shin considered this. No one had ever put it that way before. Was there a way to honor the traditions, but still move forward in the world?

“And your family. Do you not want them to be safe? Do you not want to be rich and powerful?”

“How?”

“You’ve been a great help to me so far, Shin. I won’t forget that when I am king. I’ll need someone to help me enforce my laws, and I know that I can trust you. And I have no heir of my own. Perhaps someday  _ you _ will be king.”

This was too good to be believed. There had to be a catch.

“What...what about the Avatar? The queen is with her now. They’re going to fight you, even if you throw them out.”

“How many? A handful of women, and an old Captain? Against my supporters and you? And I am not without... my own resources. I trust you, Shin. Now I ask you to trust me.”

Shin wavered. This certainly sounded better than returning to a life of hunger and shame. Never mind the consequences he’d have to face for destroying the government building, and injuring people. Ren Chong could protect him if he were king. 

“But what about the spirits? There was a beast in the city this morning. My father saw it.”

“Did you see it?”

“Well… no.”

The older man put his hand on Shin’s shoulder, and turned to continue down the hallway. “Belief can be very powerful. Maybe he just thought he saw something. It doesn’t matter… when we hold power, we will restore the traditions as they were meant to be, and the spirits will be content.”

This is what Shin wanted to hear.

They came to a place Shin had never seen before. 

“Now, I need your help.”

* * *

Whispered from ear to trusted ear, word spread that the time was at hand. Meeting at sunset, they said, King Bumi’s playground.

  
  



	28. Frustration

_Fingertips traced down from her lover’s ribs, along her lean sides, down to her perfect hips, and around to lightly squeeze her backside. They reclined, and she slid up her lover’s body, feeling every inch of her, and kissed her throat and chin, moving up to breathe into her ear, and she could feel the goosebumps rise as her palms caressed her arms. Lips began their worship, first enjoying numerous slow, soft kisses to her lover’s mouth, taking time and letting the warmth grow between the two of them, and then back down the throat, between her breasts, moving downward, sometimes tasting the skin. She sensed the rise and fall of her lover’s abdomen as she breathed deep, taking in the sensation, and the low moan as her tongue drew circles on the swell beneath her navel. Teasing, she slowed and lay her cheek against her lover’s belly, moving her hands in wide circles over her back and thighs. Her lover moved in rhythmic response, eagerly, and fingers went into her hair, pushing her subtly downward._

A hand touched her shoulder and shook her, gently. “Kya? Are you awake?”

Kya groaned in frustration and fatigue. “Whyyyy?” The dream had seemed so real and so delicious, it was a crime to be disturbed.

“The queen. There’s something wrong.” Xue’s voice was low and concerned.

Kya turned and sat up. “What’s happened?”

“She’s in pain. And… bleeding.”

Kya nodded, and stood up. She put a hand on Xue’s shoulder. “She’s beginning to miscarry. We’ll see if we can help her get more comfortable.”

Xin Ling and Bolin stood helplessly by, shuffling their feet.

“You two, can you go find us a big pile of towels or something? And something lighter for her to wear?”

Relieved to have been given an actionable instruction, both men hurried off.

“Help me get her undressed. We’ll get her out of these clothes and into the bath.”

Xue’s eyes widened, but she lifted the queen from the bed, and carried her into an adjacent room where there was a large marble tub. Spigots opened and water flowed.

Daiyu’s eyes were fearful and she asked, confused, “What’s happening to me?”

“You’re having a miscarriage. You’ve been pregnant. Did you know about it?”

The young queen’s eyes brimmed with tears. “I missed my last two moon cycles. I didn’t understand why. My aunts said not to worry, that it happens sometimes.” The tears spilled over. “They didn’t know about Xin Ling.”

Xue clenched her jaw tight, but she pulled Daiyu closer into her arms.

When the bath was partly full, she helped the queen stand, and Xue and Kya undid the buttons of the bloodstained gown from the previous night. She allowed them to pull it off her, and then took Xue’s hand and was guided down into the water.

Kya took a stance and moved through a series of waterbending forms, swirling and flowing just like the water that surrounded Queen Daiyu. It glowed as the liquid warmed and began to work on the pain she was feeling in her back and abdomen. Daiyu’s brow softened, but the sadness in her face remained.

She glanced at Xue, who caught her eye and faced her, distraught. Kya smiled and gestured, _take her hand. Comfort her._

She went out and found a stool at the dressing table, and brought it back in for Xue to sit. Then the young White Lotus, with a touch as light as a feather, placed her hand on the queen’s. Daiyu entwined her fingers with Xue’s, lay back and closed her eyes.

Leaving the bath a second time, she found a bashful Bolin holding up a light cotton nightdress, and Xin Ling carrying a stack of towels so high it covered his face.

She had them help her create a large space of layered towels on the bed.

“What’s going on?” Xin Ling asked, finally.

“The queen is losing her baby,” Kya answered, her voice matter-of-fact. “She’s been pregnant for two months.”

Xin Ling stumbled backward, as though he’d been punched in the gut.

“She didn’t tell me!”

“She didn’t know!” Kya said angrily. “And she was alone! Her aunts are gone now! Who would tell her about these kinds of things? The ministers? They wanted her dead! Where were you when she needed you?”

Hot and red, he yelled back, “I thought I’d be next!”

“Why?” Xue asked. She stood in the doorway to the bath. “No one knew you were with her but me.”

“I… I…” he stuttered.

“Even Long Kuai was surprised when you ran. No one in this city thought you had the stomach to murder her aunts. I _knew_ you didn’t.”

“But you knew… why didn’t you tell anyone I didn’t do it? And she knew too! Why would she want me to be executed?”

“Because you left her completely alone. You didn’t see her crying after you ran. I did. You broke her heart. You deserved whatever happened.”

Opal came into the bedchamber, with Suyin immediately following. She carried a young girl on her hip, about six or seven years old. Lian, holding Bao close, came in after them.

“This woman would like to see the queen,” Su said.

“Not now!” Xin Ling snapped. “The queen is not to be disturbed, especially by common trash like this!”

“That’s it, big fella,” Bolin said, and grasped Xin Ling by the upper arm, hoisting him half off the floor. “I’ve heard enough.” With a firm shove, he pushed the minister toward the door that the women had come through. “We’re gonna go have a talk outside.”

Kya approached them, and said in a low voice, “The queen is beginning to miscarry. She’s in the bath now.”

Lian swallowed hard. “I know who murdered the three women ministers,” she said.

Xue came close now. “Who?”

She gestured, and Kya took the baby from her. Then she unfolded the bundle she’d been carrying. It was a soldier’s uniform, covered in dried blood.

“My husband. Shu. He’s a guard. Minister Ming paid him a hundred yuans each.”

* * *

 The chutes were, of course, the fastest way to get down to the lowest level where Shin lived, and they made use of them, watching carefully on all sides as they descended from station to station, but did not see the boy anywhere. People were returning to their homes, but they had stopped running once they were out of the government building plaza, so there were a great number of people still out. He could easily have slipped into the crowds anywhere.

When they reached the cool shadows of the lowest level, the three of them followed Korra to the house where she’d stopped Shu from beating his wife and later received aid from his wife and daughter. There were curious eyes in the windows and doorways of the houses nearby.

Long Kuai took the lead and cautiously opened the door. “Shin? Shin, it’s the Captain. Listen, we need to talk.”

There was no response. He stepped inside and looked about, and as the rest entered, he said, “It’s empty.”

“His mom went to the coronation ceremony?” Korra suggested.

“What now? Do you think he’ll be back?” Asami asked.

“Shu’s not here either.”

“Just before Opal told us she’d seen the beast, that guard Shu was running from us,” Lin told them. “The Chief rolled him and we nearly caught up before the guards arrived, but then he took off screaming, and so did they.”

“Shu is terrified of spirits,” Long Kuai said. “It was why he was so supportive of Ren Chong. If I had to guess, he came here to get Shin help him take off the metal cuffs we put on him, and then left town.”

“Those poor kids,” Korra sighed.

“With him gone, they’re better off,” Long Kuai answered.

“Shin was there when his dad brought me to Ren Chong. He told his son to go home, but evidently Shin doesn’t listen to anybody.”

“He was there? That had to have been after he told me you were in town,” Long Kuai said. “Maybe Shin thought he would pay more for the information. I wonder if Ren Chong has more of a hold on him than I realized.”

“Do you think if we look for where Ren Chong is, we’ll find Shin too?”

“I don’t like this,” Lin interrupted. “This sounds like a trap being set for us.”

“Probably. You think he’ll gather his supporters for a takeover?”

“He has little to lose,” the Captain responded. “It’s all or nothing now, and if he has the support of many of the benders, the rest of the city will be poorly equipped to fight back.”

“Then we should follow them,” Asami said. “He’ll have arranged a meeting time and place as a contingency plan. Some of your guards will already know where to go.”

* * *

Back in his chambers, Minister Chao had a cold drink brought to him. He looked out his window, at a grand view of the city of Omashu. The day’s events were surprising; the queen was still alive? And Ren Chong had miscalculated, at long last. Exposed as a liar and usurper, and possibly guilty of murder, he had lost the confidence of the other ministers, and now Chao himself might have enough support among them to press his own agenda. With the queen back, and his chief rival undone, he could easily work his way into her favor, and once there, he could effectively rule from behind the throne. Xin Ling had been extradited, and his execution would settle the dust of the murders of the queen’s aunts. She had no other relatives, and playing the concerned adoptive uncle suited him well.

He’d been shaken by the collapse of the government building’s roof. It was a frightening reminder of the tensions the city had been under. A young boy lost his mind and went on a dangerous bending spree; he’d have to find a way to ease the tensions. Trade with Republic City was an important way forward, and once citizens saw the advantages of new technology, it would be difficult to go back to controlling them with traditionalist views. Fear was always useful, but patriotism was also dependable, and perhaps this was a good time to propose the old unity line. _Come together for the sake of Omashu, and I’ll lead us toward a new greatness._

Chao smiled. Exciting times.

Something sharp poked him in the back.

“What the—”

“Minister Chao. You are to come with us,” a man said.

“How dare you!” he exclaimed, and whirled around. A guard pointed a spear at him, and his face was hidden behind a mask.

“The King commands you to come before him,” the guard said.

* * *

“I kind of like it,” the dragon said, as they rose above the mountain range, Omashu now in sight. “It _is_ different. None of those nasty wires all over the place.”

“It’s too far for me to see it that well, but from here it doesn’t really look changed at all,” Katara agreed. “I wonder what’s going on there.”

Not for the first time, Toph shrugged. It had been intensely frustrating to listen to Katara and the feathery beast she clung to banter with each other while she rode along with them.

Miss Fancyfeathers had used the portal that took them to the South Pole, and had flown incredibly fast from there, only making a stop on Kyoshi Island to eat and rest briefly. Appa had never flown so fast, and while the wind in Katara’s hair might make her feel free, it made Toph feel like throwing up.

She did wish she knew herself what was going on there. It was the middle of the night when she and the girls had landed outside the city, and nearly morning when she was taken, so much of the day was passed already as they were approaching. The sun was on its way down.

“What’s that?” Katara asked.

“A human traveling, it appears.”

“It looks like he’s heading for the caves.”

“And so?”

“Well, there are wolfbats and badgermoles, but also the walls shift by themselves. Probably the badgermoles make that happen. They say it was cursed, and only those who trust in love can find their way through.”

“Did you enter the caves?” Miss Fancyfeathers asked.

“Aang and I did,” Katara answered, with a sigh. “But we also learned that the badgermoles like music, so Sokka and the wandering musicians we met made it through too. Toph’s daughter Lin and my daughter Kya went there as well, a couple of years ago, the last time they were in Omashu.”

“I should like to see your daughters again.”

_Me too,_ Toph thought.

“If that guy’s traveling alone… I don’t know. I hope he knows what he’s doing.”

“Would you like to ask the human if it needs assistance?”

Toph risked letting go of the feathers long enough to put a hand over her face. Not another delay!

But Katara didn’t see her. “Sure, it’ll only take a few minutes.”

Toph gripped the feathers tightly as Miss Fancyfeathers went into a steep dive.

“Hey! Need any help?” Katara yelled.

The figure on the ground turned to see who’d called, and stopped in his tracks.

“Up here!” she shouted.

The man on the ground, wearing what appeared to be a dirty guard’s uniform, looked upward, and saw an iridescent dragon with two old women on its back. He shrieked, and broke into a run.

“We’re here to help!” she yelled again, and the dragon moved forward.

The man pulled his bowl-shaped helmet over his head with both hands and kept running.

“What do we do?” she asked.

Toph shook her head.

The man was nearly at the gate of the cave.

“Don’t go in there!” Miss Fancyfeathers warned, her voice echoing off the canyon walls.

He stopped just short of the entrance, suddenly unsure. Then, he turned and kicked up a stone and lobbed it at the dragon. With a flap of powerful wings, she quickly rose out of its way.

“Let him be,” Katara said, finally. “He doesn’t want our help.”

She called down. “We’re leaving. Just don’t go in there! It’s dangerous!”

He kicked up another stone and pitched it in their direction.

“Well!” Katara said, miffed.

The dragon continued to rise into the air, and curved to resume their course toward Omashu. “It’s just as well,” she said, “he smelled very bad, even for a human. No disrespect, of course.”

“None taken,” Katara said. “Still, I hope he doesn’t go in there.”

“You can only do so much to help people before they have to help themselves.”

Toph realized that it was probably the scumbag they’d been chasing in the morning. If that guy left town, what the heck was going on there now? She leaned down and gripped the feathers even tighter.

“Please don’t pinch,” Miss Fancyfeathers said.

* * *

“Highness,” the new captain reported, “the ministers are in custody. What are your orders?”

Ren Chong stood on the platform, overlooking the arena where King Bumi had dueled the Avatar more than a century ago. A crowd of men stood below, waiting and talking.

After leaving the little house on the lower level, and heading back up the stairs and streets of the city, it became clear the gathering was about to happen. Guard posts were suddenly abandoned, and the guard who remained at their stations didn’t realize anything was happening. Lin’s seismic sense noticed a pattern of mostly larger people, she assumed men, moving in a particular direction, into tunnels under the city and down below it.

Cautiously, and depending on Lin’s sense for direction so that they could remain unseen, they followed the growing assembly down to the arena. They stayed in a hallway that led to the seats, just around a doorway.

“They have a group of people housed on the far side,” she told them. “Prisoners is my guess.”

“Bait,” Korra said.

“Probably.”

“How many are we up against?” Long Kuai asked.

“A couple hundred men. It’s not a small crowd,” Lin responded. “I assume they’re all benders?”

“The guards mostly are, yes,” the captain answered.

“Swell.”

To Lin’s surprise, Ren Chong bent stairs from the platform and went down to join the men. She gestured for them to peer around the archway to see what was happening.

The room was lit with hundreds of torches, so that it was easy to see this was a formidable army they faced.

“Brothers! Sons!” he called, and the men quieted and turned toward him.

“I have an idea!” Asami whispered. “Chameleon bees!”

Ren Chong began his speech. “We are faced with our greatest challenge. The queen has colluded with foreign powers to let them invade Omashu. We need to take back our city! Let us make Omashu great again!”

The men cheered.

Korra was incensed. “What? That’s just lying!”

“What’s your idea?” Long Kuai said. “What are chameleon bees?”

Asami continued. “Chameleon bees change color, from yellow to red to dark brown. Sometimes they’re even blue. But when they’re in the hive, they’re all one color at the same time. If the queen dies, they all turn white or different colors until there’s a new queen.”

Korra glanced at Asami. “How on earth do you know stuff like that?”

Asami shrugged.

“So?” Lin asked.

“So if we take out Ren Chong, what will the men do without their leader? Will they hesitate until someone can take over?”

“How do we get to him?”

“We put out their torches. Underground, they can’t see a thing...but you can, Lin. Then you go grab him and get him out of here.”

“But what then?” Long Kuai asked.

“You take over. You’re their captain. They’ll still listen to you,” Asami said.

Ren Chong was still speaking. “A new spring is about to come to Omashu! When the old leaves fall, what happens to them? They are trampled and swept away!”

Long Kuai scowled. “That was _my_ metaphor!”

Lin muttered, “Let’s get ON with this! If this creep makes me miss the full moon I’m gonna kick his ass into next week.”

Asami and Korra looked at each other with puzzlement, but once they realized what she meant, their composure decayed into suppressed laughter. Korra covered her mouth, and Asami bit her lip hard. Long Kuai frowned in confusion.

Korra took a deep breath. “Okay, Lin… on three. One, two… three!”

At once, Korra took a stance and a high wind swept through the arena, blowing out all the torches there. Some were still flickering, and she used a firebending move to put those out as well. Now the cavern was smothered in complete darkness.

Some of the men shouted in fear and surprise. Asami, who’d been standing closest to Lin, felt the air move as Lin leapt, and they heard the _fwzzzz_ as metal cable flew out from the reel on her back. There was a heavy thud, an “NGHH!”, and they knew Lin had made contact. There was the sound of a tussle, followed by the scrape of something heavy being dragged.

More men were shouting now. “What’s going on!” “Who’s there!” “Protect the king!”

Korra felt her way forward, down the rows of seats to the railing above the arena floor. She lit a wide jet of flame from her hand and raised it above her head. It lit the entire place.

“Guards of Omashu! Attention!” Long Kuai called. Many men fell to, some scrambling to get into formation. Others stood, stances ready for fighting.

“Traitor!” one called, and it was repeated angrily by a chorus of voices.

“King Bumi was a member of the White Lotus! How can you call me a traitor?”

“That was a hundred years ago,” a young boy’s voice sang out. Shin’s voice.

“That little creep,” Asami growled. She peered out, looking for him.

“I am the Avatar,” Korra announced. “I am here to bring Omashu into balance with the rest of the world. The White Lotus is here to protect your city!”

“The White Lotus is corrupt, just like the Avatar. Everything that lies outside the city gates is corrupt!” There was a mumbling agreement.

“Men!” Long Kuai pleaded. “I am your captain!”

In response, a large stone sailed out from the crowd and hit Long Kuai in the stomach, knocking him over. Men in the crowd turned on each other now, fists and stones flying in all directions. Korra put out the flame, leaving everyone blind a second time. There was a sound of rocks hitting the ground and heavy breathing, as the fighting stopped.

Korra’s voice rose in the darkness. “Raava, the Spirit of Light, is the power of the Avatar. You claim to honor the spirits. Listen now!” As she said this, she went into the Avatar state, and began to hover above the men below.

Now they cowered.

Asami took this opportunity to leap over the railing and run around the edge of the arena over to an opening where Lin had to have dragged Ren Chong. There was a darkened passageway, and she hesitated before diving into the blackness.

“If you honor the spirits, then live as they do, in harmony! Solve your differences not with violence, but with understanding! Do not follow leaders blindly! The one who wants to be your king does not honor the spirits, but uses your fear to bind you. Open your eyes and ears, Guards of Omashu! The strong must protect the weak, not oppress them. If you are oppressors, it is the duty of the Avatar to bring balance and defend against you, and the spirits will come to the aid of the Avatar to bring justice.”

Long Kuai rose stiffly, favoring his side. A rib was broken.

“Go out now, and tell the city! In the coming days you will learn how to rule yourselves, as free people!”

Korra returned to where her old master was, struggling to stand, his breath short.

The guards were deeply confused. Their sense of tradition revolved around respect for the spirits, and a great spirit, the Light Spirit, had just told them the man they supported was using them? To live in harmony as the spirits do? How? And of all things, to rule themselves? What did the Avatar mean?

Korra stood up again, this time coming back to herself. She set another flame aloft from her hand, and lit a few of the torches that had been dropped to the ground. The guards took them up and lit the others, but the drive had been taken out of them. Ren Chong wasn’t there anymore, and they were quite unsure what to do.

“He’s hurt! Sifu Kuai needs help!”

A few of the guards moved forward to assist him, and she let them take him.

Before she left, he caught her hand. “Avatar Korra...thank you.”

Nodding, she dashed toward the opening where Asami had gone.

* * *

Ting did not want Suyin to put her down, but Su was firm. “I have to go. There are important things I need to do.”

“Mama, why can’t they stay?”

Lian shook her head at her young daughter. “She’ll be back. You will come back, won’t you?”

Opal touched her arm. “Of course we’ll be back. We have to help the Avatar find that boy, but we’ll be back.”

“Don’t hurt him,” Lian said, sadly. “He’s my son. He’s just… very confused and angry now.”

Opal exchanged a glance with her mother.

Suyin Beifong stood tall. “My own son… I know what it’s like. We’ll do our best.”

She and Opal left hurriedly, and going out onto the balcony of the palace, the two of them climbed back on Juicy’s saddle.

“I heard something. Or... I felt something.”

Opal’s face was a question.

“I think I know where they are, where Korra is. I felt something like a crowd of people calling for help. I don’t know how to explain it.”

Opal shrugged and nodded. “Where?” she asked.

Su gestured downward. “Try where we were this morning, in that stairwell. I feel like we should start near there.”

Opal flicked the reins, and the sky bison lifted off into a circling descent toward the city gate.

On the plaza below, Su climbed up the short pile of rubble that remained from the hole blasted in the mountainside early in the morning. She put a hand against a wall to steady herself, and told Opal, “There it is again! I can feel people calling out! It’s like they’re trapped!”

Opal Beifong paused with astonishment. Her mother had been seeing things with greater acuity than she had in years, and now she could sense voices with a touch? She wasn’t sure about whether her mother had actually heard Toph speaking to her this morning, but now she wondered if her mother’s perceptions were changed somehow, as Aunt Lin’s had. Was her sense of touch enhanced, but differently, to identify sounds? Or more than just sounds… feelings and thoughts?

Tenzin had taught the air nomads a great deal about spirits and the spirit world, and there were some stories that stretched the limits of her credulity, but none of what had happened today was outside the realm of possibility, if she kept her mind open.

They went inside, going down to the room with the giant pai sho board on the floor. It was as it had been this morning, covered with dried blood, a discarded blanket and lamp near the remains of a shattered wooden door.

Suyin picked up the lamp, and refilled it with oil from the bottle which Korra had received from Shin’s mother. With a flick of her wrist, she took a bit of metal off the edge of her cuff, and used it to strike against a chip taken from the stone wall. After a few attempts, it drew a spark that lit the lamp.

She lowered the platform on the wall opposite the door, bringing them back to the bas-relief of King Bumi, and moved the rotating stone picture, passing through as they had back in the middle of the night. Now they were back in the long hall just past the arena.

Opal took her sleeve, and turned so that Su could see her speak, “I hear voices now too!”

They headed for the arena that they’d seen on their way in, and stepped through the arch to see Korra descending toward the seats on the side, and coming out of the Avatar state. The captain was leaning slightly, and appeared hurt.

A large crowd of guards was on the floor of the arena, unmoving, seeming confused. She watched Korra light their torches, and gesture toward the captain. This seemed to motivate some of them to come help her.

Korra paused as the captain said something to her, and then she turned and leapt down onto the arena floor, running towards her and Opal, but then passing to the side and into the wall just off to their left.

“Let’s go.” Suyin jumped over the ledge.

* * *

Asami had followed Lin into this long hallway without any light to guide her. As she kept a hand on the wall, touching lightly, she stepped cautiously but quickly forward. At one point she came across a door, and tried pulling it open, but it was locked.

The rattle of the door on its hinges alerted someone on the other side, and suddenly there were voices, distant, crying out. “We’re trapped in here! Help! Help us, please!”

“As soon as I can!” Asami shouted back, and cringed, hearing her voice echo down the hallway.

She moved on, her hand on the wall again, stepping forward, but after a few more feet she stumbled over something in her path. She knelt, put hesitant fingers forward, and felt a body on the ground. Touching gently, she felt the metal of Lin’s armor, and her limp arm. Horrified, she put her ear to Lin’s mouth, and could feel her breathing. Relief flooded through her. But how was Lin unconscious?

Suddenly Asami’s heart was in her throat. Lin was supposed to have dragged the minister here tied up in cables. Ren Chong was loose.

She put her back against the stones of the hallway, and peered downward into the void. Maybe, just maybe, she saw a reflection of a flicker of light. As silently as she could, she crept down the hallway toward the light, and indeed it did grow, bouncing off the brown damp stones. The hall led downhill, and bent slightly to the left. She crossed so that she could be hidden by the inner curve.

Step by careful step, Asami passed the length of the curve, and the light brightened to the point where it cast a shadow. The figure she saw wavering in the torchlight was young and thin but tall. Shin was there, and it must be Ren Chong holding the torch.

She paused, and held her breath to listen.

Nothing.

They were waiting for Korra to come after them. It was a trap.

She released her breath slowly, soundlessly, and took a step back up the hallway. She had to get back to stop Korra from rushing down here. Hopefully she’d come across Lin and stop to help her.

There was a tingling sensation at the back of her neck, and she ducked, Shin’s blade nicking her on the temple. Asami rolled, and activated her glove. It made a soft _pwewww_ sound as the electrical charge built up in the capacitor.

Shin slashed with his dagger, and she dodged it. There was little room to circle in this stone corridor, so she continued to step backward, hoping he would lunge. She took another step, he hesitated, and she responded with another step backward. He moved to the side, trying to turn and perhaps slip behind her, but she stepped back again. He jumped up, snagging the ceiling with his fingers, swinging forward, and she had to bend backwards to avoid his foot catching her in the chin. As he dropped near her, Asami rolled on the floor under him and was instantly up again. Now she was between him and Ren Chong, and this wouldn’t do at all.

She hunched, and made a running dive for him, swinging with her glove. He twirled to the side, and she tumbled again, leaping like a gymnast back to her feet. She was lithe and fit, he was young and unbelievably flexible.

_Patience, Sato,_ she told herself. _Let him make the mistake._

They exchanged feints again. Neither had the advantage.

Then she heard Korra’s footsteps on the stones behind her.

“Korra!” she shouted, but the air for shouting was suddenly not there. A blossoming pain in her chest surprised her, and she looked down to see the blade slipped between her ribs on her right side. Before she lost all the breath she had, and before Shin had a moment to withdraw the blade, she smacked him on his shoulder with her glove.

They both dropped to the floor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys are enjoying this, because man this is hard work! LOL


	29. Juweihu's Gambit

Curled in the den it kept in the roots of the Tree of Life, the ancient one rested and meditated on its interventions in the human world. They had all been entertaining, and this one not least among them, though it had exposed itself to risk greater than in ventures past. Now that it was secure and calm again, it reflected on how that most unusual sensation of fear enhanced the value of its entertainment. Having a personal stake was exciting in a way other, safer experiences had lacked.  

The one human who sought power had done just as Juweihu expected, following the pattern of those who sought to subject others to their rule. The rivals it had placed also moved in their own dance of actions. 

What it had not expected, and which was creating both the risk and the surprise of this adventure, was the reaction of the offspring of the old human to their curses. They should have been broken, but instead were using their other senses not just to compensate but to thrive in new ways. The smell of the old one’s frustration was most delicious, but even she was obdurate. The second old human and the dragon? Interesting additions, bearing risk, but adding to its pleasure.

The presence of the Avatar also created new patterns in these reactions. But it was almost too easy for the Light Spirit’s human counterpart to overwhelm the situations the ancient one had put into play, and cause the motion of events to diminish and cease prematurely. Juweihu wanted to see the entirety of these circumstances to their natural conclusion.

How, then, could it prevent the Avatar’s power from ending its enjoyment too soon? What could it influence to change her trajectory away from the crescendo of this movement? A more direct role? Greater risk might mean greater reward.

* * *

“Lin! Are you okay?”

Lin rose painfully, one hand against the wall and the other to her forehead. “Yeah… yeah.”

“What happened?” Korra asked, as she assisted Lin to her feet.

“That damned kid knocked me out!”

“Didn’t you know he was here?”

“He was behind the door!” Lin growled. “I didn’t know it wasn’t locked! I was busy dragging that guy over here, and the door flew open in front of me. I can’t know everything!” 

“I’m going after them,” Korra said, and headed down the corridor, lighting her way with firebending.

The Chief paused, collecting herself. There was a knot on her forehead, and she had a splitting headache. The brat might have broken her nose, too. Touching her lip, she felt the stickiness of blood. Yep, nose might be broken.

Suddenly she felt and heard footsteps coming toward her from the arena. Suyin and Opal. Suyin had a torch.

“Lin! Are you all right?”

“Yeah,” she grunted, and began a hobbling run down the hallway after the Avatar.

Then they heard her wail. 

“NOOO!!!!”

Korra dropped to her knees, picking Asami up gently and cradling her in her arms. 

“Asami! Asami! Hey, look at me,” she urged, desperately.

Asami’s eyes fluttered open, and she looked into Korra’s.

“Hurts,” Asami said, in a whisper. She shrugged slightly. Korra then saw the blade protruding from her side.

The Beifong women approached a second later.

“What do I do? What do I do?” Korra cried.

“Don’t panic, Korra. You can heal her. We just need some water,” Lin said, in the calmest voice she could muster.

“I haven’t got any! I can’t heal her!”

“Wait!” Opal said, and she touched the wall. “Hear that?” She turned to her mother. “Can you feel the water in there?”

Suyin nodded, and with a finger traced a circle on the wall. With a solid punch, a chunk of rock popped out like a cork, followed by a stream of boiling hot water and steam. 

“Take it easy, kid,” Lin assured her. “Just do your thing.”

Closing her eyes, Korra drew a deep breath, and blew with airbending on the water to cool it. Dipping in, she gloved her hand with it, and grasped the blade as the water began to glow. As she drew out the blade, water flowed down around the wound and filled in the gap, a swirl of Asami’s blood appearing in the clear liquid. 

Teardrops joined the water on the wound, and they sparkled with bright light as they splashed into it.

Asami tried to draw in a breath, but halfway through there was an ugly, wet cough.

“There will be blood in her lung,” Lin said, “but Kya can help with that. She’s still got one good lung left. Let’s get her out of here.” 

Opal stepped toward Shin, still unconscious on the floor. “What about him?”

“Indeed, what about him?” Ren Chong snarled, silhouetted by the lamplight behind him. “He’s been very useful to me. It’s a pity to lose such a devoted servant, but it’s more important that I put you all out of my misery.”

His right hand went into his robe, and the three Beifong women dropped into their bending stances.

He withdrew two small glass vials, and threw them onto the stone floor of the hallway, where they shattered. A puff of foul-smelling white smoke emerged as the liquids combined. Then he turned, placing something over his face with his left hand, and rushed away. The lamplight went with him.

Shin began to wheeze.

“Poison!” Korra shouted, pulling Asami into her chest to cover her mouth. Suddenly, she was in the Avatar state, and they were surrounded by a gale circling about them. Their torches went out, and they were in total darkness.

Opal added direction to the wind, blowing it down the hallway away from them, until she was sure the smoke and stench were dissipated.

“Korra! We need light!”

The Avatar’s hand went up, fire hovering above her palm, and Suyin relit her torch. 

Opal then turned her attention to Shin, who lay gasping near them. She bent the befouled air out of his lungs, and replaced it with fresher air from behind them. He coughed violently. Soon, however, he began to breathe on his own again, but it was harsh and wheezy.

“He’s got damage on the inside too. We need to get him to Kya as soon as we can,” she said.

“Do we  _ have _ to?” Lin grumbled, but moved to assist her.

Distantly, they heard a scraping noise. A door was being opened.

“Ren Chong!” Lin sprinted down the hallway after him.

“I can’t leave Asami here,” Korra replied, her face wet with tears.

“Then wait,” Opal said, tenderly. “We’ll be back.”

The Avatar knelt, Asami in her arms, Shin curled on the floor beside them. She watched as Suyin’s torch bobbed into the inky black and they disappeared.

* * *

_ What a mess _ , Toph thought, as her feet took in the scene on the plaza by the government building. There was part of a roof on the ground, and rubble and pock-marked stones everywhere.

“Where is everyone?” Katara wondered. “What’s happened?”

Toph put her hands out in front of her, palms up, and gave her a look that she hoped Katara would understand as  _ I’ve been trying to tell you _ .

She stomped into the plaza floor, leaving a slight indentation in the shape of her foot. Reading the waves, she noted families inside homes, guards at their stations, and, far below them, a crowd in a very large space. Below them and to the side was a smaller group of people in a somewhat smaller room, and down from there a few people running.

That must be where the action is, she decided.

“Should we go up to the palace?” Katara asked.

Toph shook her head and pointed down toward where she felt the movement, and without trying to communicate more, she went to the slide nearest them and jumped in, surfing a slab of stone in the direction she intended.

Katara climbed onto the dragon’s back once more.

“I guess we should follow her,” she said apologetically.

* * *

 

Bolin was rarely this angry. “Wh—What kind of— I can’t believe— you really just—” he spluttered.

“What did I do?” Xin Ling whined.

“First of all, what didn’t you do? I can’t believe you’d just run off on— and she’s just— ugh!”

“I said I was sorry!”

“But then you were so rude to that woman! They were just looking for help! You don’t call people looking for help trash!”

Xin Ling seemed genuinely perplexed. “Rude? To those kind of people? Demanding to see the queen, just like that?”

“Yeah, just like that.”

“But they’re just commoners. From the lower levels.”

Bolin bristled. “Listen. I grew up on the streets too. You aren’t better just because of where you’re born or where you live or how much money you have.”

The minister chuckled. “Is that what you think?”

Bolin’s bushy eyebrows went into an angry glower and his shoulders went up. His hands curled into heavy fists, and Xin Ling stepped back, his hands up.

“Now, I don’t mean  _ you, _ personally. You’re a good man, I can see that.”

Bolin came up close to him, nose to nose. “I can see now that you’re not.”

“Surely we can talk this out?” he pleaded.

“That lady there said you broke the queen’s heart. You left her behind when her aunts were murdered. Is that true? Is that why you came to Air Temple Island?”

“Well, yes, of course. I mean, I thought I’d be next! But I didn’t mean to hurt her! I feared for my life!”

“But not hers.”

Xin Ling’s eyes darted left and right. Bolin was backing him toward a parapet.

“Of course I did! Can we… can we move a little further…”

“She’s just a girl!”

“Yes! Now you get it! You know how females are! So emotional, and…”

“I meant she’s just a kid.”

“Uh...”

“How old are you?” Bolin demanded.

“That’s not… uh…”

“How old!?”

“Twenty-nine.”

Bolin backed up, his face contorted with disgust.

“She’s like, half your age! That’s just… ew! And now she’s preg—? Ew ew ew.”

“Oh, come on now. Be honest. Man to man. Young, attractive girls? Didn’t you ever...”

Bolin grasped him by the throat.

“No. No I never.”

Xin Ling was suddenly terrified. “Don’t hurt me,” he squeaked.

“You’re nothing but a pathetic coward. You… you’re the trash.”

“Help!”

“You don’t even love her, do you?”

Xin Ling looked confused again. “Love?”

Bolin let go and the minister dropped to his knees, breathing hard.

“Why were you crying on the airship last night, if you don’t love her?”

“I screwed up. I’ll never… never be… king.”

“That’s it?” Bolin grabbed his robe by the shoulder and yanked him to his feet. He turned to the side and pushed him towards a door. “Get out. Go and don’t come back.”

“But the queen!”

“She doesn’t need your ‘service’,” Bolin said.

* * *

Lin skidded to a halt, and threw her arms out to prevent Opal and Suyin from rushing past her. In front of them was a chasm so deep the torchlight could not illuminate its depth.

“I can’t feel the other side,” Lin said. “It’s too far.”

Loose stones from the bridge that Ren Chong had destroyed as he crossed tumbled down, and there was no sound of them hitting the bottom.

“Should we go after him?” Suyin asked.

“By the time we bend a new bridge over this, he could be long gone. Best to get back and get Asami and the kid out of here. We’ll find him soon enough. Guys like that don’t give up.”

“There are those prisoners to release, too,” Suyin realized. “They’re what led us here.”

Lin snorted a laugh, which instantly refreshed her headache. She grunted and said, “Just tell ‘em the door’s open.”

* * *

“Bolin,” Kya asked, cautiously, “are you okay?”

“No.” He was glum.

She patted the spot next to her on the divan, and when he came and sat down by her, she handed him the baby Bao.

“What—whaaat? What do I do with this?”

“Relax, Bolin, it’s just a baby,” she laughed. “If I had to guess, I’d say that you’re feeling a little let down by people lately, aren’t you?”

“I… uh… yeah…” he said, as Bao smiled at him. He was instantly and absolutely head over heels for the baby girl.

“You always think the best of people, and that’s a wonderful thing. I’m sorry you were disappointed.”

He didn’t answer, and Kya sighed.  _ Lots of ways to heal,  _ she thought, with a smile.

Xue came from the bath, one hand around the queen’s waist, the other holding her hand for balance. They walked slowly to the bed, and Xue helped her into it, arranging pillows for her to prop her up. Lian came forward and helped smooth the blankets around her.

“Is that lady sick?” Ting asked.

“Sort of,” her mother answered.

“She’ll be fine,” Xue said, looking to Kya for reassurance, which was given.

Ting put her hands on the foot of the huge bed, and bounced on her feet. “My name’s Ting!”

The queen smiled weakly. “My name’s Daiyu.”

“Just like the queen!” the little girl announced.

Her mother pulled the little girl away, and bowed deeply, not lifting her eyes from the floor. “My apologies, Highness.”

“I am the queen,” Daiyu said.

Ting’s eyes goggled. “But you’re not a stupid ugly bi—” she began, until her mother clapped a hand over her mouth.

“I’m so very sorry, Highness,” Lian said, mortified, “Her...father…”

“Oh,” said the queen. She frowned.

Xue intervened on Lian’s behalf. “Forgive me, Highness. This woman’s husband is responsible for the death of your aunts. She’s come to us with evidence that he was paid by Ming.”

The queen turned her head away, but couldn’t hide her tears. There was a long pause. 

“Why did you wait to tell me?”

“I...I was afraid of my husband. He’s always been… hard on me. When he came home and told me to wash the blood from his uniform, I was afraid he would do the same to me if I said anything.”

“He was paid. Where’s the money?”

Lian wept now as well, and said in a choked voice, “He gambled it away. Then he came home and was going to hit me again, but the Avatar stopped him.”

“Mama, don’t cry again,” Ting pleaded.

“I saw you today when Ren Chong tried to take the crown away from you, but the Captain and these women challenged him. I was so happy to find out you were alive, and I knew if I just had the chance to show you, you’d make sure that my husband is brought to justice.”

“It won’t bring my aunts back,” the queen said, bitterly.

“Ren Chong, Ming… all the ministers have hurt my family. The way the ministers use tradition as a reason to punish us for everything… nothing ever gets better. I hoped you would stop it.”

The queen turned her gaze back to Lian and knit her brows again, but this time it looked as though she were considering something.

“There are many of us who lost members of our families in the plague. My parents were taken.”

“I lost my whole family,” Xue said, and Daiyu glanced at her, shocked.

“Your trust in the Healer and her companion saved the rest of us. We owe you our lives, as much as we owe them.”

Beckoning her to come close, the queen whispered something in her guardian’s ear. Xue’s expression was at first puzzled, but then she almost smiled, nodded, and disappeared.

The queen closed her eyes and lay back into the pillows.

Kya, observing this all carefully, called Lian and Ting over.

“Let her rest now. She’s still grieving, but I think the worst is passed. Now you,” she said to Ting, “Do you want to hear a story?”

* * *

“Mom!” Suyin exclaimed, joyfully. She wrapped Toph in her arms. Toph did her best not to resist.

Opal wept happy tears. “Grandma! I’m so glad you’re safe!”

Lin was carrying Shin in her arms, but with a nearly imperceptible tremor in her voice, she said, “Hey Chief.”

Katara peered around the long hallway. “I’ve been here before,” she said, with amazement. “It’s been a looong time. Last time I was stuck in a block of genemite.”

The two mothers had come down to the marketplace near the barracks, and climbed through the hole in the tower. Toph led Katara through the pai sho room, up into the hallway near the arena, and met the others who were on their way back out. 

“Katara!” Korra called. “Asami’s been hurt!”

The Avatar lagged behind the others, going slowly and carefully as she carried Asami.

Without hesitation, the world’s greatest waterbender moved toward Korra as fast as she was able, and before they even came together, she was pulling out her special vial from within her coat.

Korra lay Asami down on the floor, and pulled open her jacket. The shirt inside was crusted with drying blood.

“You closed the wound?” she asked.

“Yes,” Korra said, her lip trembling.

“Good job. She’ll be fine, I think.” With that, she carefully pulled the fabric away to examine the small scar. She touched the scar with the glowing water on her fingertip, and it was absorbed into Asami’s body.

“Yes, very well done. She just needs to cough out some of the fluids, and get a little rest, and she’ll be fine.”

Korra broke into sobs. “I was so scared, Katara. I didn’t know what to do.”

“Oh, Korra, it seems you knew exactly what to do,” Katara said, very softly. “Those tears are so powerful when you add them to your healing water.”

Korra looked at her with astonishment. “How…?”

“All bending uses your own energy to move the elements. Waterbending too. And since you’re the Avatar, your qi is unusually strong. When we heal with waterbending, we visualize the healing, don’t we?”

Korra thought back on her lessons with the waterbending master.  _ Yes, _ she nodded.

“And whenever you visualize Asami, you do it with love?”

Korra’s eyes brimmed with fresh tears.

“And love is a form of energy. Think what you brought to your healing power, Korra.”

Asami’s eyes opened, and she drew a deep breath. She coughed again, and made a face.

“Go ahead and spit, Asami,” Katara laughed. “We won’t tell on you.”

Blushing, she turned her head and spat out a dark glob. Korra helped her to her feet, and they walked together, arm in arm, to rejoin the Beifongs.

“Now what’s happened to this young man?” she asked.

“Poison gas,” Opal said solemnly. “I airbent it out, but I don’t know what kind of damage it’s done.”

“That’s a little more complicated. We should get him to a bath, then.”

“Barracks are that way,” Lin said, inclining her head. 

Katara suddenly noticed Lin’s injuries. “Spirits, Lin! Your nose is broken! Did you get in a fight with a door?”

* * *

Xin Ling returned to his apartments, indignantly stomping down the stairs. 

Sex was always a game, wasn't it? A game to win power? With the women on the lower levels, it was always a transaction, do the thing, hand over the coins, be on your way. With women of his own rank, it was to exchange favors and information. There were always some old prudes who wouldn’t play, and there was definitely excitement in the risk of discovery and scandal, but mostly it was enjoyable and profitable. 

With Daiyu, surely he was giving her as much pleasure as he received, and they’d had fun together! He did most of the talking, at first, making her laugh, giving her compliments. Then, after she was more comfortable in his company, she began to demonstrate her own wit, and he enjoyed the amusing observations she made about their peers. 

He always thought he was exchanging flirtatious attention for influence. He suggested their first night of sleeping together, and when she agreed, he really thought he was going to win this game.

It never occurred to him that she might fall in love with him. He didn't realize he could break her heart. 

She was just a girl! Women, getting ridiculous ideas about love! 

So, yes, she was young. So what? She shouldn’t have been playing the game if she didn’t know how. Half his age? Why was that even an issue? She was as good in bed as women nearly twice his age, and no less eager.

Did he love her? That bullying buffoon. What did he know?

_ Does it matter now?  _ Xin Ling thought, angrily.  _ Half the city thinks I’m a murderer, and the other half thinks I’m worthless. Damn them all! _ He was free of his jailer now… he could leave all this behind. Return to Republic City and start over, with a new life in a vastly more interesting place.

He found the large front doors of his chambers wide open. Inside, there were workers putting his belongings into boxes.

“What’s going on?!” he exploded.

A young servant bowed low before him. “Your pardon, Minister. The queen has ordered your property forfeit. We’re only allowed to give you your clothing and one hundred yuans.”

Xin Ling’s stomach was once again pummeled by fear.

“What?!”

“That’s all I’ve been told, Minister,” the boy said quickly, before dashing off.

* * *

At every turn he’d been thwarted. All that luck had crumbled to dust. What was left? What could he do? He looked into the vast emptiness at his feet. As empty as his future, he thought. He could put himself out of his misery, too.

_ The only real defeat is when you concede. Stop being weak _ !

The voice in Ren Chong’s mind was his mother’s, and he hadn’t heard it in many years, since the first time he’d outmaneuvered another minister, to take the prestigious treasury position under the old Regent. Fear had turned to satisfaction when his rival had buckled under the threat of being exposed for embezzling some of the city’s fortunes during his tenure. That success had silenced the nagging echo of her voice in his mind. 

His mother had been ruthless in advancing him, pushing him to explore all options, regardless of who might get in his way, or what he had to do. Even his father, a cold, distant man, was not to be an obstacle to her ambition for her son. He remembered the terror he felt when mere months after his coming of age, his father’s health had begun to wither, as she slowly poisoned him so that Ren Chong could inherit his title. She forbade him to marry, lest a woman rob him of even the smallest part of his own fortune. When he complained that his peers had girlfriends, she told him to take care of his urges, but to pay no more than the going rate. 

When he learned for himself the feeling of power that came with his full wealth and title, it was intoxicating, and he took his mother’s advice to heart.

Now he was at the edge of a precipice, a bridge behind him destroyed, his future as king in ashes. But he was still alive, he still had his fortune, and he still had supporters, though perhaps fewer than before. No matter. The trader Varrick had weapons that none in Omashu could resist, and once he had those, it was just a matter of time before he would take the throne, queen or no, Avatar or no. 

He stepped back, turned, and began climbing stairs. He would get those mechs from Varrick sooner rather than later, and he could be in Republic City in less than a day. All he needed was gold.

* * *

Long Kuai was back in his chamber, looking out his window at the deepening dusk. The moon was all but full.

He lay back in his bed, wincing slightly at the pain in his side. 

This wasn’t over. He could feel it.

A shadow passed over the moon. The night was clear… what was that?

The airship was leaving.


	30. Wagers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the wait... holidays, life, work, stuff

“This is indeed a strange city,” Miss Fancyfeathers remarked, as Katara reemerged with all the others from the hole in the tower. “None of the residents has come out to greet me as they have in other places.”

Suyin and Opal stared at the white dragon with the colorfully shimmering feathers in awe.

“Greetings,” she said to them, and remembering their manners, they bowed.

Lin bowed slightly, as she was still carrying Shin.

Katara introduced them. “This is Miss Fancyfeathers. We’ve been traveling the human world together for a while now. This is Suyin Beifong, Toph’s daughter, and her granddaughter…?”

“Opal,” she said, still a little in awe.

“It’s nice to meet you, Opal,” Katara grinned. “I’m Katara.”

Opal blushed. “Everyone knows you,” she said. “I’m just so glad you brought Grandma Toph back to us!”

“It was a good thing we found her! That beast…” she shuddered. Calming herself, she went on, “But now’s she’s well and whole again. Except it seems she’s not able to speak.”

“First let’s get this kid in the baths,” Lin said. “Then we’ll find out what’s going on.” She proceeded towards the barracks, Katara immediately following.

Korra bowed to the dragon. “It’s nice to see you again,” she said.

“Avatar,” Miss Fancyfeathers dipped her head in response. “This is your companion?”

Korra turned, beckoning her to come forward. “This is my girlfriend, Asami Sato.”

Her eyes were fixed on Korra, her brows furrowed in deep thought.

“Asami? Are you all right?”

“I’m fine,” she said, and bowed.

Miss Fancyfeathers came right up to Asami, and viewed her closely with a large green and golden eye. Asami took half a step back, but then the dragon drew its long nose around and sniffed her carefully.

“Is something the matter?” Korra asked.

“No-o-o-o,” Miss Fancyfeathers said, her voice uncertain. “She doesn’t smell like most humans.”

Korra laughed. “Usually she smells a lot better!”

“Indeed.” The dragon’s voice was flat.

Asami tossed her hair, slightly miffed. “Thank you,” she said, but her annoyance was evident. She strode off toward the barracks.

Korra looked at Opal, who shrugged. “Hmm-mmm…?”

The Avatar bowed again to Miss Fancyfeathers. “We are very grateful for you bringing Toph back to us. Can you tell us what happened in the spirit world?”

“Ah, yes. It seems your friend was seized by the Nine-tailed Fox, Juweihu.”

“That’s what we’ve learned. What do you know about him?”

“Juweihu is an ancient spirit, older than I. Before I was hatched, it was driven from the Spirit World into the human world by Raava and the others. It had meddled in their lives for its own amusement, and the spirits would stand it no longer. Now it meddles in yours.”

“Do you think Juweihu cursed our family?” Opal asked. “Grandma can’t talk, Mom can’t hear, and Aunt Lin can’t see.”

“The old one… your grandmother? I asked if she had been cursed by it, but she wasn’t sure,” Miss Fancyfeathers said. “Yet it seems the very thing Juweihu would do.”

“Can you undo it?” she asked.

“No, young human, I can’t.”

“Is there _anything_ we can do?” Korra asked.

“Only to see if Juweihu can be made to reverse its action. We were able to drive it from the spirit world long ago. Perhaps together we can force him to break this curse. The Nine-Tailed Fox is a powerful spirit, but not invincible. Katara and I were able to chase it away when it was trying to kill your grandmother. Raava was instrumental in its banishment from the spirit world. If you and she can fight it together, perhaps you can restrain it, and prevent it from doing further harm.”

“Kill?” Opal asked, her voice shaking. She put her arm around Toph protectively.

“She is safe now. The Fox may be amused by its interference in your lives, but it is clear that it’s also cowardly.”

“Thank you, great spirit,” Korra said, bowing deeply and formally. “We are in your debt.”

Miss Fancyfeathers dipped its head low. “Humans are not as bad as I had been led to believe. It is my pleasure to aid you.”

“I wish all spirits had your attitude!” Korra laughed.

* * *

Katara was coming out from the baths in the barracks as Korra and the Beifongs came in. She’d finished a session of healing on Shin. Lin took him to a nearby bunk.

Soldiers moved about them cautiously. They’d watched them having a conversation with a dragon from the windows, but did nothing to stop them. The Captain, whom they had always trusted, was friends with these strange women who had business with spirits; the consensus was that they should keep a safe distance. Their anxiety was not eased seeing Shu’s unconscious son being carried in by one of them.

These soldiers were not part of the group that had met in the arena. Some were loyalists to the queen, and some were simply loyal to the captain. The absence of some of their fellow guards added to their concern, but they dared not ask these outsiders if they knew where they’d gone.

Korra’s entrance made them pause. A hush fell over the room.

“Where… uh… where would they take the Captain if he were hurt?”

Surprised faces turned to each other. “The Captain?”

“How?” one asked, angrily. “What’s happened?”

“We’ve prevented Ren Chong from taking over the city by force,” Korra announced. “There was a fight, and Long Kuai was injured. The fight ended, but Ren Chong has escaped. Where would you take him if he’d been hurt but still able to walk?”

“A fight with who?”

“The rest of the guards. The ones loyal to Ren Chong. Mostly earthbenders?”

The guards on duty shared looks of dismay. This was what they’d feared.

“Most likely to his own chambers. I can show you, Avatar,” one offered.

Korra sighed gratefully. “Asami? Come with?”

“No. I need to get up to my room and get my things together.”

“What?”

Asami pushed past her, making her way to the door. “I need to get out of this town.”

“What?!”

“I mean, we need to get radio contact established with somebody outside of Omashu. I’m going to go get the radio out of the airship to start working on increasing its range.”

Korra frowned. “Oka-y-yy.”

Lin and Opal shifted uncomfortably. Suyin’s gaze was fixed on Asami, her eyebrow raised.

Toph gestured at her with a thumb. _What’s up with her?_

Katara put a hand on Korra’s arm. “The boy is doing well now. We could go find your friend with you.”

Korra turned toward Shin sleeping on a bunk.

“What do we do about him? Is he going to come after us again?” She stopped, and sought their faces with sad eyes. “Should I take his bending away?”

The room was silent. The guards held their breath.

“Do it,” Asami spat.

“He’s just a boy!” Opal countered.

“He stabbed me! He tried to kill all of us! More than once! He brought down part of a building and started shooting rocks at a crowd! Korra’s cheek was slashed! Did you all forget that?”

“We promised his mother not to hurt him. His father abused them all. He was the one who killed the queen’s aunts. The boy is confused,” Suyin said.

Her face reddened with anger. “Confused. Right. I have a scar under my tit ‘cause he’s confused.”

“What’s got into you, Sato?” Lin demanded.

“What’s got into _you,_ Lin? Going soft? The brat broke your nose and you’re ready to let him off?”

“Don’t you even go there,” Lin challenged. “You know I—”

“Play by the rules? Only when it suits you.”

“Stop!” Korra begged. “Why are we fighting? Please! Just… stop.”

Asami and Korra’s eyes locked. She glared at her for a moment, and then turned and stalked out.

Korra closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath. A tear slid down her cheek.

“The decision is yours, Avatar,” Lin said.

Standing tall, but with her eyes still closed, she asked, “Is there a way we can keep Shin from going anywhere without hurting him? He’s learned to bend metal, so we’ll have to use rope or wood or something. But we can’t let him go until we’ve got everything sorted out. I want things with Ren Chong and the queen settled before I take someone’s bending away.”

Another guard came forward and said quietly, “We’ll take care of him. We know how his father was. He’s been hurt enough.”

* * *

Night had overtaken the lower levels of the city, and a mist was gathering. Asami strode across the open marketplace toward a flight of stairs on the other side.

Her jaw was set, but the first tears began as she mounted the stairs.

As they’d come out of the tower, just before seeing the dragon, a thought entered her head, which shook her to her core.

_You’re her weakness._

It was ridiculous. She trusted Korra with her life.

Korra’s panic, as she lay with a knife in her ribs, dying in Korra’s arms… what would have happened if Suyin hadn’t found that water? What would have happened if Lin hadn’t calmed her down?

_But she did save me._

They’d fought together many times. Korra was willing to give her life for the world, stepping in front of Kuvira’s spirit gun; but what if she’d known how nearby Asami was? Would she have been able to focus in time?

_What if’s don’t mean anything_ , she told herself.

The mist around her grew.

The distance to the plaza seemed not to decrease at all, though she climbed stair after stair. Her feet were leaden. It had been two very long days, she’d hardly eaten, hardly drunk. Was it any wonder she was being so unreasonable?

The dragon had examined her so closely. It was frightening, but she’d been rude. But why did the dragon single her out that way?

Why did she treat Korra so harshly? She loved Korra, more than anything. More than anything at all.

The boy… yes, he was just a boy. She knew logically that the others were right, but somehow her anger had exploded like a steam pipe under too much pressure. Korra had a very tough decision, and she was only being compassionate, but Asami had let her own fear and rage out. Why?

Suddenly Asami stopped. The mist was now a thick fog. She could hardly see the top of these interminable stairs.

“Aren’t you, though?” a low, rumbling voice asked.

Asami’s heart began to thud heavily.

“Who’s there?”

“Your doubt…” she heard a snuffling noise, “smells delicious.”

“Who are you?” she demanded.

“Ancient,” the voice replied.

Ancient? “What… does that mean?”

“Aren’t you the Avatar’s weakness?”

She had to be hallucinating. She took another step forward, but she felt as though her limbs were frozen. A chill went down her back.

The mist in front of her, on the top step, thickened into a form. It had a canine shape.

“No. No. You’re that…”

“I am the Ancient One.”

“Korra loves me, but she’s the Avatar. She’s not weak.”

“Isn’t she? Her fear… I can almost taste it from here. She’s looking for you, even now.” It gestured with its snout upward, and Asami saw Juicy sailing overhead. Korra was leaning over the side, searching.

Asami trembled, but wasn’t put off. “Fear isn’t weakness. I know she can defeat you.”

“Can she? With you here?”

Nausea swept through her.

“Are you reading my thoughts?”

“I only observe the ripples after I touch the pond. There is no need to read your thoughts. You wear them on your very face.”

“You’re wrong. She loves me, but I’m not her weakness.”

“Care to wager? If you are right, I will free your friends from the curse I have put on them.”

Asami’s knees went weak. She clung to the railing at the side of the steps.

“And if I’m wrong?”

“Wouldn’t that be enough of a loss?” The Fox, its nine tails now clearly defined, wagged them all and chuckled with a kind of growl. Asami’s knees buckled, and she sat heavily on the stair.

“Your fear is so very, very intoxicating.”

“You’re evil.”

Juweihu laughed, a strange low yipping sound, a fox’s call but slow and stretched, like playing a phonograph record too slowly. It stepped down the flight toward her. Its tails stroked her cheek. “Risk and reward, Miss Sato. All you need to do is prove me wrong, and I will reward you by freeing your friends.”

Asami was silent. Korra… she wasn’t Korra’s weakness. She couldn’t be.

“Get on the airship. Go home. Either your unexplained absence will break her, or she will be able to bring peace to this city.”

“No. You’ll hurt her.”

“I only observe. The cycle of cause and effect in this city is nearly done, and it has entertained me greatly. Go. If the Avatar comes back to you, I will free your friends from their curses.”

“If you hurt her, I will hunt you down.”

“That would be most amusing to watch,” The Fox replied.

Instantly, the spirit and the mist were gone, and she found herself on the plaza, standing near the airship. She had the chance to give sight, hearing and speech back to the Beifongs, and prove the spirit wrong; but doubt gnawed at her.

She could also go back to Republic City, send back help, and increase the odds of peace in the city, even if Korra didn’t know it was she who’d done it.

What she didn’t doubt was that this trickster spirit would cheat to win.

It had touched the pond. So could she.

* * *

Opal whistled for Juicy as Katara climbed onto Miss Fancyfeathers’ back.

“We’ll meet you at the palace when you’re done,” Katara said, and they lifted up.

Korra and the Beifong women rode on the air bison up to the window that the guard pointed out to them. Asami had disappeared into the growing dusk, apparently willing to climb stairs all the way up to the apartments where the trade group had been housed. As they rose over the city, Korra leaned over the side of the saddle, searching for her, despite the shadows filling every corner. Her heart felt like stone.

No one spoke. None of them had ever been at odds with Asami. The exchange had disturbed them all.

It was not a long ride. Lin and Korra jumped off, and Opal and Suyin continued on, escorting their mother up to the palace. They promised to return shortly.

Alone for a moment, Lin said, “I’m sorry, kid.”

“I just don’t understand, Lin. What did I do?”

“You didn’t do anything. We’re all tired and hungry, and it’s been a really awful few days. If I’d been stuck in this shitpile of a town for two weeks I’d be ready to get out too. Maybe her fuse is just too short at the moment for her to be reasonable.”

“This is so not like her, though.”

“Give her a little space. Let her cool off. She’ll come back.”

“Lin,” Korra said, ready to cry again, “I don’t know what I’d do without her.”

Lin sighed. This was Kya’s territory, the talky-talky heart-to-heart stuff.

“Listen. You have to trust her. Kya and I have had fights too. They happen.”

They were at the door now. “Talk to Kya when we’re done. I’m no good at this stuff,” she admitted.

“Oh, I don’t know, Lin. Knowing that you come back after a fight with Kya is kind of reassuring.”

“Well, actually, just as often it’s the other way around, but… ugh, please! Would you just talk to Kya?”

Korra finally smiled. “Okay, Lin. I won’t ask you for any of your love secrets.”

They were allowed in by an elderly woman, who told them what floor he lived on. When they knocked on the door, they heard him say, “Come,” in a low voice.

The found him in the dark of his room, light from the almost-full moon streaming in. He was standing by the window, looking.

“Sifu Kuai?”

“Korra? You’re still here?”

“What do you mean?”

“Did you capture Ren Chong?”

“No,” she said.

“The young kid that’s been causing us all that trouble helped him escape,” Lin added. “Well, until he turned on the kid, too.”

“I sensed this wasn’t finished.” Long Kuai closed his eyes, his expression pained. “Shin… his father is scum. Drinking, gambling… and I think he hits his wife. I know he’s been filling his son’s head with garbage.”

“Even if we had caught him...why did you think we’d just leave?” Korra asked, confused.

The Captain pointed out the window. “Look, there.”

Korra went over and leaned out, squinting against the light of the moon where Long Kuai indicated. “What is i— oh spirits!”

“What’s the matter?” Lin asked.

“The airship. It’s gone!”

“Gone? What about Asami? She was going to get the radio… oh shit.”

“I don’t know how we’re going to catch it! By the time we get back to Juicy it could be anywhere.”

“Is Asami on the ship?” Lin asked.

Korra braced herself against the window frame and went into the Avatar state. In her mind’s eye the bright light of her connection to Asami snaked through the city, leading down to where they’d parted, and back up to the plaza, and trailed off, into the air.

“Yes,” she said, her voice cracking. Her heart was in her stomach. Asami just... left her?

“Is Ren Chong on there too?”

With horror, she whirled to look at her old master. It hadn’t occurred to her.

“I… I don’t know…”

“Can you find him?” Lin pressed.

Korra leaned again on the window, and took a shuddering breath.

“Korra, are you all right?” Long Kuai asked.

“Let me… just…” she struggled.

Lin put a comforting hand on her shoulder. “We’ll find her. You have to trust her.”

Korra gripped the windowsill so tightly she might have earthbent thumbprints into the stone. Gritting her teeth, she fought her fear, until finally she was able to breathe again, and then she went back into the Avatar state. She reached out, visualizing the minister, seeking the signature of his energy from the place where they’d seen him last. After a minute, the path connecting them shot from her, out and away, to down below the city, zigzagging through what must have been underground stairwells, up into the city, and then back out to the plaza. It too trailed off into the air.

She came back to herself. “He’s on there too.”

Lin frowned, thinking. “Asami is a great close-quarters fighter. He’s a soft aristocrat who barely uses his bending. She can handle him. And she’s smart. If they’re on the airship together, she probably has a plan to take him down for good. We’ll go after them, but I bet you twenty yuans she doesn’t need us to capture him.”

Korra’s tears fell. “You think so?”

“You may have saved the world a couple of times, but she’s saved _you_ more than once herself.”

Korra brightened, remembering how Asami had broken the two of them out of the Earth Queen’s airship over the desert, and that was a Cabbage Corp vessel. This was one of Future Industries’ own, that Asami designed herself. She’d know everything about it, and use it to her advantage.

And Asami loved her. She wouldn’t simply leave her here in Omashu. Lin had to be right.

Wiping the tears away, she turned back to her old mentor.

“We’ll go after them, but first we’re here to help you,” Korra said, with a sniff. “How’s that rib feeling?”

* * *

Bolin had come with Opal on the return trip to retrieve her aunt and Korra.

“Any sign of Asami?” she asked.

“She’s gone,” Lin said. “On the airship. We’re not sure where.”

“What?!” both she and Bolin exclaimed.

Korra sighed. “Long Kuai saw it leave. It’s out of sight now. There’s no point going after them.”

“It was just a little spat!” Opal moaned. “She wouldn’t just leave you like that!”

“No, she wouldn’t,” Korra said. “I trust her. We think maybe Ren Chong was trying to escape. He may have taken her.”

Bolin bolted up in the saddle. “If he hurts Asami, I’m going to… show him… something… something bad!”

“He won’t stand a chance against Asami. I believe she can handle herself,” Korra said.

“True,” he mused.

“And anyway, you’d have to wait until after I’m done with him,” Korra finished, putting her fist into her palm.

“Let’s get back up to the palace then,” Opal suggested. “We can plan our next steps with the queen.”

“Maybe this is almost over,” Lin agreed. “I could use some sleep.”

* * *

“Mom! Oh, Mom, I’m so glad to see you!” Kya sprang up to wrap her mother in a warm embrace.

“I’m sorry I’ve been away so long,” Katara said. “It’s so good to be back… well, back in Omashu!” she laughed. Looking around the queen’s bedchamber, which was now full of people, she commented “And you’ve made some friends, it looks like.”

Kya turned to introduce her. “This is Lian, her daughter Ting is sleeping over there, and baby Bao...:”

“Ooo! What a cutie!”

“And this is Xue. She’s a member of the White Lotus. Xue, this is my mother Katara.”

“ _The_ Katara? King Bumi’s friend?”

“Yes,” Katara smiled.

Xue bowed very low. “My master Long Kuai speaks very highly of you.”

“I look forward to seeing him again. He was a fine earthbender, and he was a very good trainer when Korra was young. You’re very fortunate to have him teach you.”

Kya said, “I’d introduce you to the queen, but she’s had a very rough few days.”

“What’s the situation?”

“Miscarriage,” Kya replied, lowering her voice. “She was attacked yesterday and lost a large volume of blood. Korra healed her wound, but the blood loss was too much for her body to sustain the pregnancy.”

Katara tsked and shook her head. “She’s so young.”

“Sixteen.”

“The father?”

It was Kya’s turn to shake her head. The elder healer breathed a long sigh.

Suyin approached, with a bow. “Katara, I’m really so pleased to see you. Thank you again for bringing Mom back to us.”

Katara reached out and gave her a hug, which was warmly returned. “Su! It’s been too long,” she said, over Suyin’s shoulder.

Suyin pulled back. “I’m sorry… I can’t hear. Could you say that again?”

With a look of surprise, Katara asked, “Can’t hear?”

“No. Like Mom can’t speak, and Lin can’t see.”

“What?! Lin can’t see?”

Nearby, Toph crossed her arms with a look of satisfaction. This was the explanation she’d been unable to deliver.

“Lin has handled it extremely well. She can use seismic sense like Mom does.”

“I didn’t even realize it when I healed her nose!”

“Mom, did you try healing Toph’s muteness?” Kya asked.

“I did. The blockage is weird. I couldn’t do anything. It’s not a natural blockage.”

“We think it was caused by a spirit in the Swamp that Toph insulted.”

Katara snorted, and looked at her old friend. “Toph’s lucky she wasn’t the one who had to explain that to me! She’d have died before admitting to that!”

Toph went red.

“Oh, relax. We’ll figure something out. We always do,” Katara reassured her.

Lin, Korra, Opal and Bolin returned then.

“Where’s Asami?” Kya asked.

Korra examined her feet.

“She’s gone,” Lin said. “With the airship. Ren Chong is on it too. We don’t know what happened, but until they land we won’t know where to look for them.”

Gesturing for calm, she continued. “What we need to do now is eat and then rest. Long Kuai’s broken rib is healed, thanks to Korra, and he’s sleeping now. It’s what we need to do too, because tomorrow may be as difficult as today. There are still divisions in this city, and ministers who will be looking to fill the power vacuum until the queen can establish order.”

“Long Kuai will be able to regain control of the guards tomorrow,” Korra added. “That should keep the ministers from causing too much trouble. Wait… where’s Xin Ling?”

“I… uh… I told him to leave,” Bolin confessed.

“He won’t be a problem,” Xue added, with a slight smile. “All he has right now are his clothes and a hundred yuans. By order of the queen.”

“Serves him right, too,” Kya said.

Bao began to cry then, and Lian moved to the divan to nurse her.

“Well, Opal, that's our signal.” Korra shrugged. “Bolin took care of lunch. I guess it’s up to us to find dinner.”

* * *

A trunk of clothing and a sack of gold yuans was all he had to his name now. Xin Ling bumped the trunk down the steps from his chambers to the plaza. That airship would take him to a new life. He had little choice now. Maybe he could try his hand at acting, or pro-bending. That buffoon… if that fool could act in a mover, then he could easily be a great one himself.

He made his way across the plaza in the moonlight, looking up and down at the only city he’d ever called home. It was strange to feel sentimental about it now.

Then he fell under the shadow of the airship, and the interior lights of the passenger area were warm and golden. Resolved, he went to its doors and knocked.

After a moment, the pilot opened it and looked at him quizzically.

“I’d like to book passage aboard your vessel,” he said.

“Aren’t you that guy that the policeman brought?”

“I’m a free man now,” Xin Ling assured him. “Whether I like it or not.” He presented him with a handful of gold coins. “Is this enough?”

“This is a chartered— yeah. Yeah, it’s enough.”

“My baggage is outside.”

“Sure thing,” the pilot laughed.

The young ex-minister chose the most comfortable seat he could find for himself, in the back, and stretched out on it.

He had nearly dozed off when he felt a heavy thud nearby. _The clod,_ he thought. He went back to sleep.

* * *

Coming into his rooms the secret way he’d left them last night—was it only last night? It felt like weeks ago—he went to his closet to retrieve the disguise he’d used then too. He had to get on that airship, but he couldn’t depend on it being unguarded. He had to leave secretly.

In his bathroom mirror, he looked at himself, eyes dark, hair disheveled, face haggard. How could he go unrecognized?

The beard had to go, first of all. The men of Omashu had always worn their beards long, and shaving was almost like breaking one of the city’s great traditions… but that era was over now. Reluctantly, he found an old straight razor, and cut away its length, black shot through with grey. His age could be seen in its color, but never mind that. There was still enough time to have a future as the king.

Then, as a precaution, he shaved his head as well. Baldness would make him much more difficult to identify.

He put on the shopkeeper’s clothing, including a brimless cap, and stared at himself again. The transformation was good, but the darkness around his eyes was troubling. An application of some powder should fix that.

He went to his wardrobe, and pulled away a panel in its floor, revealing a secret drawer. In it were his mother’s pearl-handled dagger and a leather bag, which contained bars of solid gold. He pulled it up, and was comforted by the heaviness of the metal inside. A king’s ransom… or enough to buy a throne.

The dagger went in his belt, and the bag was ready… one more thing. His robes… in a pocket in their folds, he’d put King Bumi’s rings. His guarantee of success. If, somehow, the gold weren’t enough, he was willing to trade these for the power they represented.

A purse full of small change went around his waist, and he looked at himself one more time, to be sure.

Back down the secret stairs and out into the plaza, he saw two people at the entrance of the airship’s passenger cabin. There was an exchange of coins from one man to another, and then the second dragging a heavy trunk into a compartment in the back.

He approached warily, looking for guards, but saw none. He kept near the wall of the old government building, carefully working around the debris of the collapsed roof. Once he was close, he heard footsteps coming up stairs from below, so he hurriedly addressed the pilot.

“How much?”

“You too? Gimme ten.”

Ren Chong counted out ten coins and handed them over. He quickly chose a seat near the windows on the side away from the door, and kept his face turned. His bag of gold fell on the floor next to him with a loud thud, and he winced. He heard the man in the back stir.

“Chang, we need to take off,” he heard a woman’s voice. Miss Sato? How was she still alive? He fought himself not to turn and look.

“Are you sure, Miss Sato? The Avatar’s not coming with you? Or that Bolin guy?”

“We’ll come back for her...them...later,” he heard her say, but her voice was odd. Strained.

She stepped on board, and noticed the two men already there.

“Who are these people?”

“They asked for passage back to Republic City. That’s… that’s not a problem, is it?”

“No, I guess not.”

“Okay, Miss Sato. Get yourself buckled in and prepared for takeoff.”

“Listen, Chang. I don’t think I’m going to be able to sleep. Why don’t you take a rest and I’ll fly this thing for a while, okay?”

“Really? Are you sure?”

“Yes, Chang. I’m sure.”

“If you say so, Miss Sato. Thanks! But don’t you have any bags?”

“We’ll… “ she took a long pause, “we’ll get them later. But if you’ve got a bottle of water, I’d appreciate it.”

“Sure thing, Miss Sato.”


	31. First Thing in the Morning

Korra rolled over. Her body was sore. Back in the room she’d had when the trade delegation had first arrived, sleep eluded her. Why hadn’t she thought of just earthbending into Asami’s room then?

Asami’s room was empty now.

She looked at the moon descending in the west, not knowing where Asami was or whether she were safe. Lin’s words had been comforting, but they didn’t bring her back.

She ached. What did she do to set Asami off this way? She replayed the events in the arena over in her mind… Asami had run after Lin and Ren Chong, into the darkness, while she tried to convince the guards that they had been used.

Korra regretted that Long Kuai had been hurt, and that she’d left him in others’ hands before running off after Lin and Asami. At least she’d come back to heal him later. But she couldn’t run after Asami before then, or when would she have been able to stop the guards from rioting? When would she have had the chance to break their confidence in Ren Chong? She’d had to stay there.

And she ran as fast as she was able, only stopping to check on Lin. Lin was down. She had to check on her. She couldn’t just leave her there, wounded.

In her mind’s eye was burned the image of Asami on that hard stone floor, with the knife jutting out from her. She didn’t want to relive that awful moment. But was that where things went wrong?

She’d panicked. Choked.

Still. If Opal and Suyin had not been there, she’d have thought to look for water in the walls. She’d have heard it, wouldn’t she Or she could have bloodbent the wound shut, like she did with the queen. She wouldn’t have let Asami die, just because fear overwhelmed her for a little. Right?

No position in this bed was right. She turned again. Korra was uncomfortable. The bed was too large, too lumpy, too cold.

How long since the stairwell, when Asami had touched her? When she’d clung to her, shook against her?

Just yesterday.

Now Asami was gone. No explanation. Just gone.

She’d messed it up. She’d lost her cool when it was the most important.

Asami knew it too.

Korra tossed again, pain in every joint and muscle.

The pillow became soaked with slow, constant tears. 

* * *

 

No, she wasn’t crazy. She heard voices!

And yet, sitting up in her bed, snapping her fingers, there was no sound.

Opal had shared a room with Suyin, and was already up, but Su hadn’t heard her daughter leave. So what were these sounds in her head?

They were like voices, pleasant, but indistinct. It was a conversation she could hear, but the words were too faint to make out.

She got out of bed and wandered about the room, to learn if possibly she were too far from the source, but there was no rustle of bedclothes and no sound of her own footsteps. Where she was, she was still stubbornly deaf.

Out in the hallway, servants were moving about, sweeping and chatting, carrying armloads of fresh sheets and towels into the rooms. She smiled and nodded to them, though the greetings they spoke to her did not register.

Kya emerged from the room she shared with Katara. She saw Suyin and waited for her to come closer before speaking.

“Are you coming to breakfast?”

“Can I ask a little professional advice?” Su replied.

“Are you okay?”

“I feel fine, yes, but…” the Matriarch began to blush, “is it possible I could be regaining part of my hearing, but only distantly? I can’t hear anything up close, but I keep hearing voices.”

“Honestly, I’ve never encountered such a thing, Su,” Kya admitted. “It’s more likely that your mind is creating sounds to fill in the space.”

Su’s shoulders slumped. She’d been eager for better news than this.

“You’re not crazy,” Kya said. “It’s natural. Sometimes people who have lost a limb still feel pain where there’s no body part. The mind doesn’t quite know how to cope with that loss.”

She sighed. “It’s not painful. Actually it sounds like a nice conversation, except I can’t quite make out the words.”

“I’m sorry, Su. But if they change, you should let me know. Sometimes the way the mind works, the things people seem to hear can be frightening, but there are ways to treat that. We can try some herbs that might affect your mood differently.”

“Fine, yes.” Suyin’s disappointment was difficult to hide.

“Now, _this_ may sound a little crazy,” Kya said, “but if you meditate with those voices, perhaps you will learn some things about yourself.”

“It does sound that way, yes.” Su remarked bitterly.

“What you hear is a product of your own mind. I’m just suggesting that you can use this as an opportunity to get in better touch with your own feelings. Listen to your own spirit, in a way.”

Su did not respond. Listening to her own spirit? Or hearing spirit voices? She’d heard her mother from the spirit world; she’d heard the terror of the prisoners under the arena. If Lin could suddenly learn to see with seismic sense, there was no reason to think she couldn’t be hearing things beyond human perception.

She collected herself, attempting to be casual. “Maybe you could give me some pointers about meditation later, if you have a chance.”

“I’d be delighted,” Kya smiled, and gestured for her to join her.

* * *

 “Mama, look at all this food!” Ting said, in a hushed voice.

In spite of all that had happened, life seemed to return to normal for the servants in Queen Daiyu’s palace, and they were at work in the early morning, making breakfast for all her guests.

Lian and her daughters were in the breakfast hall, a big room with a huge open door leading out to a terrace, watching the servants lay out a fine, hearty breakfast, and it was indeed more food in one place than Lian had seen in a long, long time. Possibly since her wedding, when things had seemed much brighter.

She still had trouble comprehending that they were guests of the Queen, something she hadn’t even dared imagine yesterday. All she wanted was to tell them about Shu, and she expected that she’d be sent away right afterward. It was certainly good luck that the foreign women protecting the queen understood her anxiety about going back to her house, with Shu still missing.

Her son was safe, even if he were in custody. That was also a small blessing. The Avatar hadn’t taken his bending away, though she supposed maybe it would be for the best if the Avatar did. It would make his life hard as a nonbender, as hers had been, as her family’s had been, but he wouldn’t be able to hurt anyone.

That wedding all those years ago seemed like a good enough thing at the time. She didn’t know Shu, but he was a bender, he was good looking and had a good job. Her family’s insistence that this was a good match was reasonable enough. And he was nice at first.

Nobody warned her about his temper, but she knew she had to do her best. That was a woman’s lot in life. What else could she have done?

“’Scuse me,” a cheery woman said, as she brushed past with a tray of steamed buns. They smelled like heaven.

“Is there anything I can do?” Lian asked, unsettled.

“Oh, spirits no! You’re a guest of the Queen! You just sit right there and relax! Would you like some tea?”

Before she could respond, the cup was in front of her and the steaming liquid poured.

“You’re up earlier than most,” the cheery woman observed.

“No, we’re just… regular people. I’ve never been served anything before. It feels wrong not to be working.”

”Never? Never had a treat with your hubby? A night out on the town?”

Lian paused. “No.”

“Well, then, it’s about time you did. You’re well-in with those folks from outside, and for one I’m glad we’re done with that Minister Ren Chong. He was a meanie.”

Lian bit her tongue. She knew he’d fled the city, but the serving woman appeared so pleased that she didn’t want to burst her bubble. She hoped that they really were done with him.

Except her life had never been like that. Something always went wrong.

“Here, dear,” the woman said, handing Ting a plate with a fresh bun. “You look hungry.”

Wide-eyed, she accepted the plate, and took a huge bite.

“What do you say?” her mother prompted.

“Mfff-ffuuu.”

The earthbending woman, the commanding one who had been there during the plague, entered the dining hall. Lian couldn’t understand what they meant about her being blind. She behaved just like she could see everything. In all her long life, she’d only met old, helpless people who’d gone blind with age.

And it was the result of a curse?

Lian wondered briefly whether the threats of curses she’d heard coming from the ministers weren’t all that bad either. Certainly they couldn’t be worse than the life she already had.

To her relief, Lian watched Lin choose a different table, making no effort to talk with her. She could talk to her neighbors, sometimes, when she had to, but anyone she didn’t know made her deeply anxious. The guards yesterday, and talking to these strange women… she really didn’t know how she’d managed it.

Ting didn’t have this problem, she thought. Ting would run right up and talk to almost anybody. It was Ting who had brought home the Avatar, who’d saved her from another beating. It was the last time Shu had raised his hand against her.

It was hard to hope it would be the last time ever, but they’d said he wasn’t there when they’d chased after Shin.

“Ting, leave her be,” she warned in a low voice, as the young girl edged closer to the earthbending woman. That curiosity was going to get her in trouble eventually.

“It’s all right,” Lin answered.

“You really can’t see?” Ting asked, springing over to her and waving a hand in front of her face.

“I can,” Lin said gruffly, catching her hand in midair. “I just see differently now.” Her grip was soft and she let go quickly, but Ting shot back behind her mother, fearful.

“Didn’t I tell you?” Lian said.

“I’m sorry,” Lin said, uncomfortably. “I’m… there aren’t a lot of children that I… interact with. Much.”

“Ting forgets her manners. I apologize.”

“She’s a child. I suppose we have to make allowances for children.” Lin sighed.

“Is everything all right?” Lian asked, carefully.

“Yes, I think… well. Mostly, yes.”

Bao began to fuss. Her mother lifted the child and sniffed. “Oh, it’s time for a change.”

Lin sipped her tea.

“Excuse me, Lady,” Lian said.

“My name is Lin. I’m not a Lady anything.”

“You’re a lady earthbender,” Ting piped up, and ducked again.

“True,” Lin replied, her face impassive. “Are there no lady earthbenders in Omashu?”

“They only make plates and jars and do farming,” Ting said.

“Is that so? In Republic City, ladies who bend do everything that men do.”

Ting’s eyes goggled.

“Watch this,” Lin said, and picked up a knife from the table setting in front of her. She gestured at it with her fingers, and the blade wiggled and curled.

“How did you do that?” Ting asked, awed.

“It’s called metalbending. It’s a special kind of earthbending I learned from my mother.”

“Another lady earthbender?”

“The best earthbender there ever was,” Lin said.

“But how did you do that without seeing it?” Lian asked, astonished, and then remembered herself. “I’m sorry, Lady.”

Lin smiled a little. “No title. My name is just Lin. My mother was born blind, and she learned to bend from the badgermoles. She can feel vibrations of things moving on the earth. Since she doesn’t use her eyes, she learned to see by feeling those. And when I lost my sight, I did the same thing.”

“But metal?”

“Metal is purified earth. Takes a lot of practice, but it can be learned by some people.”

“Like my son,” Lian said, suddenly aghast.

“He’s unusually talented. We’ve never seen anyone pick it up so quickly, except for the Avatar...Don’t tell her I said that,” Lin warned.

“Will she take Shin’s bending away?”

“I don’t know,” Lin said, truthfully.

The two women were silent for a while then, as Lian finished changing Bao’s diaper. She handed it to Ting, whispered to her, and the little girl dashed off.

Lin seemed to brace herself. “May I… hold her?”

Lian gently passed her youngest daughter over.

“This is nice. Soft. Warm.”

“You have no children of your own?”

“No. Never had time.”

“You seem to be doing all right with it,” Opal remarked, as she approached. She kissed her aunt on the cheek.

“Hmpf,” Lin replied, but her cheeks colored unexpectedly.

“Wait until Kya hears about this,” Opal laughed.

“I’m just holding the baby for a little,” Lin growled, her brows descending.

Grinning, her niece retorted, “You volunteered. Don’t tell me you didn’t.”

“Hmpf.”

“Wait until Pema hears!” she laughed again.

“Don’t you say. One. Word,” Lin hissed.

“About what?” Kya asked cheerfully, from the doorway.

* * *

Xue woke, but lay still for a moment, wondering where she was. It was comfortable, and even with closed eyes she knew light was streaming into the room. She’d slept in an assortment of odd places since she’d become Long Kuai’s pupil, but they were never as luxurious as this. Her home, hers alone since the plague, was down where the early morning sun did not reach, and her bed there was often cold.

She heard the slow, even breaths of someone near her. Her heart began to hammer. Opening her eyes, she found herself in the queen’s bed, and Daiyu lay curled up next to her, so close she could touch her face without stretching.

The night before, after the Avatar and Chief Beifong had come back from healing her master, she’d had dinner with everyone, and then set about making arrangements for all of them to spend the night. The rooms recently occupied by the trade delegation were now open, and sufficient for everyone’s comfort.

With that done, she came back to the waterbender Kya and her mother, friend of King Bumi, tending to the queen as the cramps from the miscarriage were at their worst. She’d hung back, not knowing what to do, but grateful that they were so knowledgeable. The queen’s pain was eased by their waterbending healing, and the tissue was passed without complication. They bathed her, gently but thoroughly, and Xue was at the ready with fresh bedclothes and another nightgown.

Queen Daiyu was still frail, so they stayed in the room a while longer until she was asleep, and then Xue had taken Kya and Katara to a room nearby to let them get some rest.

At last, she came back to the queen’s bedchamber, and took a post by the door, guarding over her as she had done for months, watching from the shadows. She too was bone-tired, though most of her time had been simply standing by, ready to act. Even so, now that Kya and Katara had gone off to bed, she realized that at last the queen, her queen, was safe. Xin Ling was dismissed. Ming was dead. Ren Chong had fled the city, and the rebellion had been thwarted. People knew the queen was alive, and not defeated. She was hopeful, now that these women from Zaofu and Republic City had come to support Daiyu, that none of the other ministers, like Chao, would be eager to move against her.

She might finally be able to relax.

The night deepened, and from the south windows she saw the almost full moon reach the zenith on its journey through the sky. The blue shadows of furniture and floor were edged with silver light. She thought of Long Kuai’s White Lotus uniform… blue and white, like a protector in the night.

Xue felt herself drowsing off. She breathed deeply to stay awake, stood up and paced. Looking out the windows, down across the city, there was nothing moving. Even the iridescent dragon had made a nest of a lower terrace and its huge body rose and fell with the motion of sleep.

Suddenly she became aware of a slight noise behind her, and in a single fluid motion she was back at the queen’s bedside. Her heart crumbled as this broken-hearted girl wept.

Hesitating only a moment, she lay down on top of the blankets, and put her arm around Daiyu. Daiyu moved closer and turned herself into Xue’s embrace, and sobbed. She held Daiyu close, her own eyes filling with tears, and stayed next to her until she’d gone back to sleep.

And that was the last thing she remembered. She realized she’d fallen asleep there herself, except somehow, in the night, she’d moved under those blankets, and now Xue was face to face with the young woman who had her heart in her grasp. Her hand moved, and stopped just above Daiyu’s cheek, fingers open but not touching.

The motion was enough to wake Daiyu, who looked surprised for a second or two, but then she smiled, and it was brighter than the morning sun streaming through the window. She moved her own hand, took Xue’s, and placed it against her cheek.

Whatever came next, she knew there was nothing that could make her want to leave the queen’s side.

* * *

The dragon knew.

That spirit had planted that awful idea in her head, just to separate her from Korra, and the dragon had known something was wrong. Miss Fancyfeathers could smell Juweihu’s essence on her.

Asami fumed. All this was for its amusement.

She wondered whether it would make good on its promise to lift the Beifongs’ curse, if Korra came home to her, successful.

She had to see Tenzin. Tenzin might know what to do.

Sunlight broke over the horizon, and Asami tilted a shield of green glass in front of the pilot’s window in order to cut the glare.

Her eyes burned. She’d flown all night, her mind moving back and forth like a tigerdillo in a cage.

Korra was everything to her.

Korra had saved her from the stab wound. Korra had saved—everyone. Again and again. The whole world, more than once.

And yet she was human. She could be broken, had been broken, badly, even as she’d done her best to save everyone.

Three years she’d waited for her, because she loved the person Korra was. Not as Avatar, but as the woman, the brave, compassionate, exciting woman that Korra was. Korra was there in Omashu now because Asami hadn’t wanted to be apart from her during the time they’d planned for the trade talks, and for once Korra was available to come along. And Korra was just as eager to be there with her.

They’d been there for each other. They were each other’s strength.

Korra hesitated in the tunnel because she thought she would lose Asami. Asami would have been just as scared. But did it matter? Opal and Suyin and Lin had been there too, and they were able to help Korra focus. Korra was human, afraid, but she still had the power to bring Asami back from the edge of death. Even if they hadn’t been there, Korra would have found a way. She’d always found a way, even when it cost her dearly.

That damned fox was wrong. She wasn’t Korra’s weakness. She loved Korra, and she was going to show that stupid, evil, meddling spirit just how wrong it was.

Korra had great compassion. Kuvira was alive because of that compassion; it had been hard to understand, but life was more important than anything to Korra. Kuvira faced death, but Korra stepped in anyway, because she valued Kuvira’s life. Was it any wonder, then, that she should hesitate before taking a young boy’s bending away? Opal and Suyin had promised his mother to keep him safe, which meant somebody loved this boy. He couldn’t be all bad, and they were right. He was a confused and broken human, just like Korra. She wanted to show him compassion.

And Lin just wanted justice. Taking away his bending, given the circumstances, wasn’t entirely just.

Asami understood now that what she herself had wanted was revenge.

She sighed. There was just so much to work out, and she was so tired. She wanted to go home and climb into bed.

But Korra wouldn’t be there.

Dammit.

“Miss Sato?”

“Chang,” she replied tiredly.

“I think I should take over now. You’ve been flying eight hours straight, and it’s your own policy to have a shift change or a stop after that.”

He was right, and she knew it. Any more and she’d be making mistakes.

“I appreciate the rest, Miss Sato,” he continued. “We had to stop on the way down to Omashu, but with you helping me fly, we should be back in Republic City shortly.”

“Yes.”

He moved out of the way and let her pass before taking the controls. She rose, stiffly, and stretched her back before moving out into the passenger area. There was a restroom in the back, and she made her way toward it.

As she passed, the two men who’d booked passage were still sleeping in awkward positions. There was something familiar about the first one, by the windows, but she didn’t know where she’d seen him before. It was odd that a shopkeeper in such a clean new uniform would have come aboard at night… they hadn’t made any announcement about leaving. Very strange.

As she neared the small door in the back that lead to the restroom, she looked at the other passenger stretched out on the seats. With a start, she recognized Xin Ling. How had _he_ come to be aboard? He’d been so vocal about protecting the queen! What was going on?

Suddenly the familiarity of the shopkeeper was more than curious. Asami went back and used the restroom, splashed her face with cold water, and carefully made her way up to the row of seats he was in.

She settled in, and cautiously observed him from the corner of her eye.

The man was very recently shaven. The place where a beard had been was distinctly paler than his cheeks and forehead. Frowning, she tried to imagine him with facial hair.

He moved, and she closed her own eyes, pretending to sleep.

Who was he? Who?

A black beard with white streaks. Ren Chong. Escaped from Lin, and put on a disguise to flee the city.

This… this changed the equation.

If Ren Chong were no longer there to threaten the queen, then it would be easy to bring peace to Omashu. But surely the fox spirit knew this. It was just as likely it had influenced him to get on the ship, and go to Republic City.

But what good would that do him? What was in Republic City that he could want?

Varrick.

With mechas, he could easily defeat any regular earthbender in the city. Even if some of his followers had lost trust in him, it would only take a handful of loyalists to seize control of everything.

Korra, with all their friends there, could probably defeat a team of those robots. But it would be a difficult fight, with real damage possible. Property could be destroyed, and people could be hurt or killed. And with that kind of damage, resentment and anger would make a lasting peace much more difficult. Foreigners fighting with native citizens could be blamed, and Omashu might end up more isolated than ever.

Asami briefly considered simply tossing Ren Chong off the ship into the sea below. It would solve so much so easily. One smack with her glove, one boot out the door.

No.

That wouldn’t free the Beifongs, and it wouldn’t prove that damned fox wrong. Even though she knew the spirit couldn’t be trusted to play fair, Asami knew she herself must be very careful, so the beast couldn’t invalidate the wager on a technicality.

She had to see Tenzin. Maybe he knew some way to hide her thoughts from its meddling, or at least defend against their intrusion.

But she also had to get to Varrick. Delay the sale until she could find some way to assist her friends still in Omashu. Zhu Li would understand, she was sure.

Or maybe try to convince Mako to arrest Ren Chong?

And again, why was Xin Ling here?

No matter what, once they landed in Republic City, she’d have to work fast.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The well had gone dry. I waited for it to refill. Enjoy.


End file.
